November 11, 2023
After these diaries covered Chinnor’s impressive 53-8 home win over Blackheath, National League One took a two-week break. On the resumption last week, Chinnor chalked up 48 points or more for the fourth consecutive game in beating Taunton Titans 53-21 in Somerset to remain in second place in table. With leaders Rams unexpectedly going down to defeats at Leicester Lions and then at home to Darlington Mowden Park, the gap between the top two sides was down to just three points.
Today’s match against Plymouth Albion was a meeting between 2nd and 3rd, with both sides on 31 points with 6 wins from 8 games. Both sides had won all four home matches played, and had a won two, lost two record away from home. Albion’s two defeats had come at Rosslyn Park and Cinderford, with the away wins being at Bishop’s Stortford and Darlington Mowden Park. At home they had been victorious over Taunton, Leicester Lions, Sale, and last weekend against Blackheath. Interestingly, today was their first match against a side currently in the top 6 in table.
Previous Meetings
Today was the fourth meeting of these sides at Kingsey Road, with Plymouth having won all the previous three encounters, winning 17-10 in 2018/19, 41-36 in 2021/22 and 30-22 in 2022/23.
In last season’s game, Chinnor declined an opportunity to kick a late penalty to secure a draw, but were penalised at the subsequent 5 metre line-out, and Plymouth then scored a breakaway try to both secure the try bonus point for themselves, and deprive Chinnor of a losing bonus point. The year before, Chinnor had been cruising to a comfortable win until three converted tries in the last 5 minutes enabled Albion to turn a 36-22 deficit into a 41-36 win.
Conversely, Chinnor have the better record at Brickfields, winning 26-11 in their first ever match in National League One in 2018/19, and 19-12 in 2021/22. There was a 10-10 draw in 2019/20 and their only loss came in January when Albion won 28-12.
Matchday Information
The Plymouth starting XV included 6 players who had played in last season’s meeting at Kingsey Road, with another on the bench. These included ex-Redruth scrum-half Jack Oulten and Phil Jones, who moved from full-back to fly-half. Fijian 7s International Pita Ratukadreu played four times for Chinnor last season but missed out today for Albion through injury.
The line-up for Chinnor featured 5 players who had started in that game, with prop McNulty amongst the substitutes.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off time was sunny and clear blue skies, with temperatures around 9 degrees although the floodlights were already on.
Match Report
Chinnor kicked off towards the ring-road end and the attempted clearing kick was charged down. Albion were able to gain possession at the ensuing ruck and cleared to their 10 metre line. Chinnor won the line-out and their forwards rumbled to the visitors’ 22 but scrum-half Carter dropped the ball in the act of passing.
The first scrum of the day set a pattern that was to regularly repeated during the afternoon as a reset was required, but eventually Plymouth won solid scrum ball, and went down the blindside for Wedlake to kick deep into the Chinnor half, which led to a period of aimless kicking by both sides.
Plymouth centre Connor Eastgate broke the monotony with a good break to the Chinnor 22 but lacked support and knocked on in the tackle. The Albion pack got a good shove on at the Chinnor scrum, but Chinnor Number 8 Willie Ryan picked up and drove. Chinnor kicked from the resulting ruck and the Albion defender took an excellent catch, leading to prop Rukhadze making ground, but Plymouth kicked away possession to Chinnor wing Keiran Goss. After some interchanges amongst their backs, Chinnor kicked deep into the Plymouth 22 but the defence was good and Albion cleared towards the half-way line
Chinnor won their line-out and full-back Feeney broke through the Plymouth defence and looked to be heading for the try-line, but the referee blew for crossing. Plymouth kicked back into the Chinnor half, and after securing line-out ball, fly-half Jones played a nice offload to centre Archie Hill who headed towards the Chinnor 22, and a long floated pass released winger Craig Duncan to race over in the corner for the first try of the match.
The pass was directly in front of where I was standing and was only about 5 feet forward, but as the Albion supporter next to me commented, it wasn’t 5 metres forward ! Still, all sides get away with it these days, and full-back Tom Putt’s excellent touchline conversion took the score to 7-0 to Plymouth after 10 minutes.
Chinnor response was immediate as Plymouth infringed and although the advantage was defended, the penalty was kicked to 5 metres. Chinnor won their line-up and the ball was fed to centre Bourton who ran through from close range to score. Bourton converted his own try to make it 7-7 with 14 minutes on the clock.
Plymouth were awarded a scrum on the Chinnor 22 from the restart, and from the resulting open play, both props made bullocking runs which were halted, but when play was recycled, prop Jason Broughton ran through some flimsy tackling to score from 22 metres out. No doubt by the end of the evening it would have been from the half-way line ! The conversion struck the post to leave the score 7-12 with 18 minutes on the clock.
Play continued with another bout of aerial tennis until Chinnor full-back Smith kicked to touch for a line-out on the Plymouth 10 metre line. When Albion spread the ball amongst their backs, Bourton ripped the ball out in the ruck, but then knocked on.
Plymouth fly-half Jones was having an impressive game, and after making a great break, his offload went forward. Again, Plymouth got a good shove on at the scrum but again Ryan picked up and drove. Chinnor kicked for territory but again Jones made a good catch under the high ball and then set-off on another eye-catching jinking run, and Albion won a penalty.
From the line-out midway in the Chinnor half, Plymouth scrum-half Oulton went on a snipping run and Chinnor again infringed. With the penalty in front of the posts, Plymouth opted to take the points, and Putt extended the lead to 15-7.
Jones was again in the action claiming another high ball and launching another Plymouth attack to send Wedlake towards the Chinnor 22. Another penalty was awarded, and after the line-out drive was defended, Plymouth went across the field and slick palmed passes released Duncan, but the wing was bundled into touch close to the Chinnor line.
Chinnor won the line-out close to their lines and cleared, and when Plymouth went wide again, Chinnor hooker Walker’s attempted interception was knocked forward, but the referee, perhaps generously, deemed it only worthy of a scrum rather than a penalty and a yellow card.
Albion continued to look to play an expansive game, and this time Wedlake was greeted with a crunching tackle from Goss and Chinnor won a penalty.
The kick from the penalty failed to find touch, and after another period of kicking backwards and forwards, Plymouth knocked on close to their 10 metre line. Chinnor were awarded a free-kick at the scrum and after a quick tap and go they had several drives at the Plymouth defence. A penalty advantage led to the ball being thrown wide to Goss on the left-wing but the move was stopped. With time-up, Chinnor decided to take the posts, and Bourton’s straight forward penalty made the half-time score 10-15.
Plymouth’s lead at the interval was a fair reflection on the pattern of play in the first half, as their backs had made several dangerous breaks, they had made very few handling errors and Jones had so far looked the best player on the park.
After Plymouth’s restart was returned into Albion half for a line-out, their throw went too long, but Chinnor couldn’t capitalize as Bourton knocked on. Albion then had a series of drives around the half-way line that appeared to be going nowhere until they forced a penalty. From inside the Chinnor 22 they threatened the try-line but Wedlake was forced into touch.
Chinnor cleared their lines with a high-kick which Wedlake dropped, and Chinnor won a penalty at the subsequent scrum. Unfortunately for the home side, Plymouth were able to disrupt the line-out inside their 22 and Oulton was able to clear back to half-way.
Another period of kicking followed but when a high-kick bounced off a Chinnor player’s chest, Plymouth went down the left touchline. With a penalty advantage the went across field but Wedlake knocked on with the possibility of clear run to the corner.
There then followed probably the most crucial phase of the match as Plymouth camped inside the Chinnor 22. Instead of kicking for the 5 metre line-out they took a quick tap and go and drive for the line. Chinnor appealed that the ball had been dropped, but with the referee on the other side of the play, he awarded the scrum to Plymouth.
Albion won a scrum penalty but another tap and go was halted at the expense of another penalty. The referee awarded another penalty for what appeared to be an early push at the scrum and after a long time to set the scrum, a free-kick was awarded to the visitors, who predictably chose to scrum again. Yet again, the referee penalized the Chinnor pack and again Plymouth couldn’t take create anything from the advantage, and the yellow card was shown to Chinnor prop Woodward.
It took an age to bring on a replacement prop for Chinnor and from the next scrum a penalty try was awarded and another yellow card shown to reduce Chinnor to 13, and increase Plymouth’s lead to 22-10 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Chinnor responded spiritly but after winning a line-out, Carter’s pass to replacement fly-half Worboys was awful and the Bath youngster unsurprisingly knocked on. Chinnor then won a penalty as Plymouth were deemed guilty of crossing, which was greeted by ironic cheers from the Chinnor faithful.
Another penalty for a high tackle took Chinnor into the Plymouth 22 but after a series of drives they lost possession enabling Jones and Putt to counter attack, but a loose pass enabled Chinnor to win another penalty for not releasing.
Play was back in the Albion 22, and with a penalty advantage for a high tackle on Wharton, a grubber kick saw Carter pounce on the bouncing ball to score under the posts. Bourton’s conversion took the score to 17-22 with time up on the scoreboard, but it remained to be seen how much time had been taken off the clock by the referee for all the scrum resets.
Plymouth were looking to wind down the clock with their forwards keeping possession but eventually they knocked on, and Chinnor had a scrum put-in. Incredibly after all the scrum penalties awarded against them, this time the decision went in favour of Chinnor !
With the crowd roaring them on, Chinnor won their line-out and pressed furiously for the winning try. However, the Plymouth defence was good and when Worboys was closed down, he attempted to run across the Plymouth 22 to create space, but the ball was knocked out of his hands and Plymouth gleefully kicked the ball off to end the game.
At the final whistle, Plymouth deserved to win the game as they had the edge in the scrums and won the crucial arm-wrestle period mid-way in the second half that not only led to 7 points, but took a significant amount of time out of the game, and reduced Chinnor to 13 players. In the first half they had also created several dangerous breaks, whilst Chinnor’s backs had precious few opportunities.
With Rams and Sedgley Park also losing, Plymouth moved to the top of the table, and on today’s performance look to be serious title contenders as they maintained their 100% record at Kingsey Road.
However, National League One continues to be an incredibly competitive and unpredictable league !
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdk_zAbo3Qk
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