April 1, 2023
Hull arrived for their first ever visit to Kingsey Road having all already been relegated in a season where they were yet to win a match. After winning National League 2 North last season and only losing 3 games in the process, in 23 games so far, they had only managed just one draw, 30-30 at home with Cinderford. However, last time out Esher needed a penalty three minutes from time to secure at 27-26 win at Hull’s Ferens Ground. Chinnor recorded a comfortable 29-15 victory at Hull back in December.
Hull had earned just 12 league points this season and had conceded an average of 48 points over their 12 away defeats. Wing Michael Adlard had claimed 9 tries this season, whilst fly-half Reece Dean was the top points scorer with 110 points.
Chinnor started the day knowing that a bonus point win would see them safe from relegation, as third from bottom Taunton could only get to 60 points with three bonus point wins in their last three matches. However, having suffered home losses to struggling Esher and Taunton, this was a potential banana skin, and nothing could be taken for granted.
After a week of virtually non-stop rain, today was dry but with dark clouds overhead, and the temperature at the 15.00 kick-off was around 11 degrees. The traditional Chinnor breeze was present and it felt quite chilly at the start.
Hull, wearing blue shirts with black sleeves and white shorts kicked off with the mostly cross-field wind in their favour but a superb 50:20 kick took Chinnor deep inside the Hull 22. Although Hull stole the line-out, Chinnor regained possession, and after prop McNulty and Price were stopped short of the try line, flanker Will Cave dived over. Price added the extras to give Chinnor a 7-0 lead with 2 minutes gone.
Hull responded by trying to release their backs but a forward pass by fly-half Dean brought an end to a promising period of play. It was an attractive start to the match as Chinnor were also looking to play expansive rugby, but a loose pass looked to have put Hull wing Timoci Waqadau clear but to the home supporter’s relief the referee whistled for off-side.
Chinnor kicked to 10 metres from the Hull line and although they secured line-out ball, they knocked on for a scrum to Hull, from which the visitors won a penalty.
With 11 minutes played a chip ahead by Dean was gathered by his opposite number, but Hull won a penalty for not releasing close to the Chinnor 10 metre line. The visitors opted to go for the posts but Dean’s kick drifted just wide in the breeze.
Hull continued to attack, and at a ruck close to half-way prop Loma Kivalu spotted a gap in the Chinnor defence and picked up to charge deep into Chinnor territory. Although he was stopped short of the line, Hull were able to rework and a long pass found Waqadau in space to cross out wide. Dean was again unsuccessful from the tee, so it was 7-5 to Chinnor after 14 minutes.
Chinnor’s response saw scrum-half Luke Carter make a break into the Hull 22 and prop Lines also made ground, but the visitors’ defence was good and they forced a penalty to take play back up to half-way.
A flowing Chinnor move involving Ryan, Worrall and Goss ended with a knock-on inside the Hull 22, but a penalty for an earlier infringement saw Chinnor with a 5 metre line-out. After lock Down won the line-out ball, the Chinnor pack rumbled over, with hooker Marshall credited with the touchdown. Price was again successful with the conversion to make it 14-5 after 20 minutes.
Chinnor returned the restart high back into the Hull 22, but the bounce evaded wing Goss. Waqadau fielded and impressively raced through the heart of the Chinnor defence showing blistering pace. An off-load inside the Chinnor 22 gave centre Johnson an easy run under the posts, and Dean’s conversion took Hull to only two points behind at 14-12 with 22 minutes gone.
The breathless end-to-end pace of the match continued as Chinnor returned to the visitors 22 after another break by Carter, and after several drives at the Hull line, Cave scored close to the posts for his second try of the game, and the easy conversion extended Chinnor’s lead to 21-12.
With their tails up Chinnor pressed again, and number 8 Theobald-Thomas made a decent break to get close to the try line, and long pass from Carter gave Goss the chance to dive over in the corner. With the conversion hitting the padding of the posts it was now 26-12 with 33 minutes played.
Hull were penalised mid-way into the Chinnor half and the referee marched them back 10 metres for dissent. Prop Ben Boothman was shown the yellow card, I’m not sure for what, but perhaps it was for something he said ? Chinnor were back in the Hull red zone but with a penalty advantage at a ruck close to the line, for some reason Theobald Thomas decided to attempt a running, no-arms clearance at the ruck and quite rightly was shown a yellow card for his very stupid offence, and to make it 14 a-side.
The half ended with Chinnor’s McNulty stealing a poor Hull line-out throw but the home side’s attempt to go wide ended with the pass being too high for Goss and going out of play, with the referee then blowing his whistle to send the sides back to the dressing rooms.
Hull returned to the pitch fired up and won a penalty in midfield. Again, they opted for the posts but this time Dean’s long-range attempt sailed through the upfronts to bring the score to 26-15.
The match then became a little untidy. Dean kicked out on the full, Chinnor’s line-out wasn’t straight, but from the scrum Chinnor won a penalty. Again, some back-chat cost Hull 10 metres, it’s unlike Yorkshiremen to have an opinion !
Chinnor won the line-out and the rolling maul was unstoppable as Cave claimed his hat-trick. With the difficult conversion missed, Chinnor now led 31-15 after 49 minutes.
Hull were conceding too many penalties and making too many errors, preventing them from getting any decent possession. This time though it was Chinnor’s turn to fail to find touch, but the return kick from Hull went dead for a scrum back near the Hull 10 metre line.
Another scrum penalty led to another 5 metre line-out and although the Chinnor pack were held-up over the line, Hull lock Regardsoe was the latest player to see yellow and leave the field for 10 minutes. Chinnor took the penalty quickly and the pass to wing Worrall saw him dive over. Again, the conversion went wide but the score moved to 36-15 with over 25 minutes remaining.
Hull’s errors continued as the restart went long, with a scrum to Chinnor back on half-way. At this point the sun came out, and unusually at Kingsey Road, it started to feel a little warm !
Chinnor were looking to add to their points tally and a flowing move involving Worrall and Blakemore was ended by some good defence, but as the clock ticked on, the visitors started to see more of the ball. A sweeping move by the backs saw Waqadau release Edwards close to the touchline and his run into the Chinnor half was illegally halted. Unfortunately for Hull, Johnson’s kick for the corner was poor and went dead.
From the scrum back where the penalty was taken, replacement scrum-half Walsh made a great break but was stopped short of the try line, and the wave of follow-up drives were repelled by the Hull defence. Chinnor were awarded a scrum and Price attacked the line only to be tackle a few metres short, but the attempt to rework the ball resulted in a dam-buster pass that a Hull defender hacked clear and Chinnor knocked on when the tried to run the ball back.
Hull wing Waqadau continued to catch the eye and another great break led to a pass to Edwards but the kick ahead went straight out of play. Hull forced a penalty in the Chinnor half and kicked to the corner to have the opportunity for a 5 metre line-out and rolling maul for the first time. Their first attempt was defended at the expense of another penalty, and their second attempt was thwarted, forcing them to go wide but Chinnor made an interception. As Hughes looked for a second interception try in two weeks, play was brough back for another penalty to Hull for off-side.
Hull continued to strive for a consolation try and their next 5 metre line-out and drive was again well defended at the expense of a scrum. Hull moved the ball to the right wing, but when their progress was blocked, Dean chipped to the opposite corner but Chinnor claimed the ball and launched a counter-attack that took them half-way, where they forced a penalty.
This time the home side’s attempt for the corner was poor and went dead for a scrum to Hull on the half-way line. Again, Waqadau made a probing run, but yet again Edwards’ kick ahead was poor and went over the dead-ball line.
Chinnor won the ball from the 25 metre drop-out and Theobald-Thomas burst through some tired looking tackling to take play back into the Hull 22, and when the ball was re-cycled, Hughes passed to lock James Down, who for some reason was lurking on the right wing, for the final score of the match. The conversion was missed and the referee ended the game with the score 41-15 in favour of Chinnor.
With the bonus point win, Chinnor ensured their place in National League One for another season.
Highlights : https://www.chinnor-rfc.com/videos/trylights--chinnor-v-hull-189127.html
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