September 24, 2022
Today’s visitors to Kingsey Road were Birmingham Moseley, one of the most famous historical names in English rugby. All 5 previous meetings between those two sides have ended in away wins, with Chinnor being victorious on their three visits to Billesley Common whereas Moseley have won on their two trips to Thame.
The last meeting was in January and was covered in these diaries, when Moseley clawed back a 14-27 second-half deficit to win with a penalty try from the last play of the game. The most notable feature of the match was the dominance of the Moseley scrum, winning a stream of penalties, forcing 4 yellow cards to Chinnor, and the winning penalty try at the end had a certain inevitability to it.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2022/01/chinnor-27-29-birmingham-moseley-att.html
Scrums were a particular weakness for Chinnor last season, but they held their own against Rams and according to the Chinnor match reports had the edge over Darlington Mowden Park and Rosslyn Park. With Moseley’s scrum reportedly overpowering Esher last time out, today would be a good test to measure their improvement in this area of the game.
Instead, Chinnor were unable to defend 5 yard catch and drives against Rams, something which contributors to the Moseley forum were complaining about from their side’s performance at Cinderford. If the respective coaches had done their home-work then we could expect a lot of kicking to the corner today !
Chinnor have started the season with three defeats, and gathered just one losing bonus point, although trips to Darlington and Rosslyn Park and the local derby against an impressive Rams outfit represented a pretty tough start to the season. With just one point, Chinnor were only ahead of bottom of the table Leeds Tykes by virtue of a better points difference.
On the surface, the visit of Moseley looked an opportunity to get their season going, assuming the runs of away wins in this fixture has to come to an end at some time, and they could avoid getting beaten up at the set-piece.
Moseley also faced a tough start to the season, beginning with a home match against Sale, last season’s runners-up, followed by a journey to the Forest Dean to face the big beasts of Cinderford. To few people’s surprise, 13-32 and 25-37 losses resulted, but a visit of newly-promoted Esher to Birmingham under the lights on a Friday evening saw the first win of the season tucked under their belts by a comfortable 35-24 margin, and with the bonus point. The first five points of the campaign moved them up to 10th in the table.
The Moseley supporters’ forum has almost mentioned their long injury list being a factor in their club’s slow start to the season, but injuries are part and parcel of life in National League One meaning that large squads, and contacts to bring in players on loan, are key elements to being successful. In contrast, Chinnor had fielded essentially stable line-ups to-date, with only 20 different players starting in their opening three contests, not that such relative continuity had led to good results ! For today, they made just one change, with George Grose replacing the injured Kieran Goss.
Chinnor prop Josh McNulty had started all three of Chinnor’s games so far, and being named again in the line-up today faced a family reunion and a battle for bragging rights with brothers Sam and Isaac, who both started for Moseley. Moseley fly-half Ben Palmer made three appearances for Chinnor in 2018/19 on loan from Coventry. With Foreman and Creed in their line-up, Moseley would probably be well equipment for any punch-up on the pitch !
At the 3pm kick-off, the weather was dry and the temperature around 17 degrees although the infamous Chinnor breeze made it feel a bit colder.
Moseley kicked-off towards the Ring-Road end and quickly won a penalty and kicked to the corner. In what was to be came a recurring theme in the match the Moseley line-out was lost but Chinnor knocked on. In the first scrum, Chinnor looked to be in trouble, but the referee allowed play to continue. After losing some ground, the ball reached winger Rob Knox ( without a number on his back ) who made a strong carry through the Chinnor defensive line and fed flanker Zindi to go under the posts. Palmer’s easy conversion made the score 0-7 after 4 minutes.
From the restart, a loose king by Moseley full-back Tom Benjamin was kept in play by fly-half Tom Price, leading to Manning and Ryan carrying play close to the visitor’s line. However, Moseley won turnover ball, but the clearing kick was charged down, and then Moseley knocked on.
Moseley won a free-kick on Chinnor’s first put-in at the scrum and cleared to half-way. Chinnor won the line-out and spread the ball wide to winger Worrall, who was able to break into the Moseley 22, and after Number 8 Willie Ryan carried forward to around 10 metres from the try-line, his off-load went to replacement prop Pieterse who had enough momentum to cross the white-wash near to the posts. Price added the extras to bring the score to 7-7 after 9 minutes.
Moseley’s kick-off went out on the full, and encouragingly for Chinnor, their scrum on half-way was stable, and they were again able to threaten, with wing Hammond being stopped 15 metres short. When the ball was recycled, Chinnor won a penalty and it was their turn to kick to the corner. The catch and drive rumbled slowly forward before collapsing, leading to another penalty, and another 5 metre line-out. This time the Chinnor drive was held-up over the line, giving a drop kick under the posts to Moseley.
Chinnor continued to press, with hooker Marshall prominent but Moseley’s defence continued to be good and eventually Chinnor knocked on again. Moseley scrum was strong but possession was kicked away and returned with interest by Chinnor full-back Smith.
Again, the Moseley line-out was poor and the loose ball was grabbed by Chinnor prop McNulty, but the danger passed with a loose pass directly into touch. This time Moseley won their line-out ball and were able to take play up to half-way.
Moseley won another turnover ball and scrum half Marsh kicked into the Chinnor 22. The home side won the line-out and Ryan’s bullocking run took him into Moseley territory and from his off load, scrum-half Carter headed for the try-line. A superb tackle stopped Carter just short of the line, but he was able to find the supporting Ryan, who dived over the line to score. Carter was injured in the process and had to be replaced. The conversion from Price drifted wide so it was 12-7 to the home side with 20 minutes on the clock.
Two minutes later Chinnor were caught off-side at a ruck near half-way, and Palmer’s excellent kick took Moseley close to the Chinnor line. Again though, the throw was too long, but Chinnor knocked on again.
Moseley won a penalty from the scrum, but again the 5 metre line-out was wasted, this time the throw wasn’t straight. Moseley’s scrum put the Chinnor pack under pressure, but scrum-half Walsh was able to get the ball away and Chinnor were able to clear their lines.
Yet again, Moseley’s line-out mis-functioned and Chinnor were again able to clear to close to half-way. This time Moseley secured their own ball but after moving right, then left then right again they didn’t seem to be making any headway, until centre Creed broke the gain line and had the posts in his sight. Despite being tackled he was able to pass to hooker Sam McNulty, who in turn fed flanker Suvwe Obano to score close to the posts. With Palmer’s conversion, the visitors now led 12-14 after 32 minutes.
It soon got even better for Moseley two minutes later. Chinnor carelessly gave away turnover ball near the half-way line, and when the ball reached Sam Pointon the winger scooted down the touch-line to score, and for good measure when round to the posts to leave an easy conversion for Palmer. In a quick turnaround, Moseley now led 12-21 after 34 minutes.
Chinnor’s attempts to reduce the deficit were first predictably thwarted by a knock-on in a promising position, and after winning a free-kick at a scrum, the tap and go ended with another knock-on. Moseley were able to clear into the Chinnor half, but Hammond launched a counter attack. After a series of interchanges, scrum half Walsh dived over in the corner, but the touch judge’s flag was raised for a foot in touch. Moseley again lost their throw-in but as Chinnor inched towards the try line they infringed at the ruck.
At the half-time whistle, both sides would have contemplated areas for improvement. Despite leading by 9 points Moseley’s had barely won any of their line-out ball, and had only occasionally looked stronger in the scrums. On the other hand, Chinnor had committed numerous knock-ons and were guilty of mis-placed passes in their eagerness to force an opening.
As if to underline these points, the second half started with a Chinnor knock-on. Moseley then wasted a good position on the Chinnor 22 by crossing. Chinnor then won a scrum penalty, with the referee heard saying “boring down”, which presumable wasn’t an insult to Chinnor second-row James Down !
Eight minutes into the half, Manning and Ryan made determined carries up to the Moseley 22, with Marshall picking up at the ruck only to be illegally stopped. This time it was Chinnor’s turn to overthrow a line-out, Moseley hacked into the Chinnor half-way and forced a penalty from the desperate defender. However, their line-out woes continued, this time with a knock-on.
Moseley continued to keep play in the Chinnor half, but although the home side’s scrum looked like buckling, they continued to be able to play the ball.
Play became scrappy, with both sides again losing their own line-outs. Chinnor then pressed but conceded a penalty at the ruck, then Moseley did exactly the same. Chinnor then won their line-out on the Moseley 22, and Worrall got close to the try-line but lost possession in the tackle for yet another knock-on.
The predictable nature of the contest continued as Moseley won a penalty at the ensuing scrum, and then lost their line-out again !
Twenty minutes of the second half had been played without any change to the half-time score, but Chinnor secured line-out ball and when Moseley infringed, play was back 5 metres from the Moseley line. The catch and drive was held up but another penalty was awarded. This time Chinnor took a tap and go, but Moseley captain Ollie Stedman stole the ball on his own line, but did so in a manner to incur the wrath of the referee who produced the yellow card. From another quick tap, Willie Ryan barged over from close range, and the conversion from Price brought the score to 19-21 after 63 minutes.
From the restart, a huge-kick from full-back Nick Smith took play back into the Moseley half. After another penetrating charge from Ryan, wing Hammond was tackled close to the line, but the resulting maul was held-up to give Moseley the 5 metre scrum.
Chinnor continued to camp in the Moseley half and after the visitors had secured turnover ball, they kicked it away poorly for Smith and Ryan to then take play back to the 22 metre line. From the ruck, a long ball put Worrall in space, and he had the pace to make the corner. With Smith now taking over the kicking duties, his kick from out wide was successful and Chinnor now lead 26-21 with 8 minutes remaining.
After falling behind, Moseley raised their game and had a spell between the Chinnor 22 and 10 metre lines. However, rather than patiently going through the phase to force an error or penalty from Chinnor, an attempt to spread play was intercepted by Hodson, who ran from inside his own half and under the posts to put Chinnor out of reach. With Smith’s conversion the score was now 33-21 with three minutes left to play.
There was still time for Chinnor’s Pieterse to be shown the yellow card after a tackle on Ajayi. Moseley had the incentive to score a try to claim both the 4 try bonus point and a losing bonus point, and a fine tackle was required to stop a dangerous move down the left wing. When the ball was recycled, Moseley knocked on, and with the ball fly-hacked into the Moseley half, Worrall won the foot race to score a sixth try for the home side. The conversion was missed, but the referee blew for full-time to leave Chinnor 38-21 winners.
The final score harsh on Moseley as with just over three minutes remaining they were pressing for a winning score, yet ultimately they lost by a 17 point margin, conceding 26 unanswered points in the second half to return home empty handed. Clearly, they have a lot of work to do to secure more line-out ball.
Chinnor also have much to work on, and need to cut out the handling errors and the penalty count.
Finally, the run of away wins in the fixture came to an end and ironically, after the build-up focusing on both sides perceived weakness against 5 metre catch and drives, none of today’s nine tries were scored in that manner !
Highlights : https://www.chinnor-rfc.com/videos/trylights--chinnor-v-birmingham-moseley-182499.html
