Richmond 16-41 Chinnor ( att : 918 ) – National League One

March 23, 2024

With just 4 rounds of fixtures remaining in National League One, Chinnor started the day knowing that 16 more points would clinch the title ahead of Rams, although with a vastly superior points difference, 15 points would probably be sufficient. This would equate to three bonus points wins from their 4 games, three of which were away from home. It was time for Fatbear to make a rare appearance at a Chinnor away match !

Today’s opposition were Richmond, who were in 7^th place in the table with a 10-0-12 record. Notable victories over Plymouth Albion, Rosslyn Park and Blackheath contrasted with losses to lowly Cinderford ( twice ) and Leicester Lions. At home they had won 5 and lost 5.

After relegation from the championship last season, many pundits expected Richmond to mount a strong challenge for an immediate return to the second tier, so this campaign must be a disappointment.

When these sides met in Thame back in November, Chinnor ran out comfortable 55-26 victors, with two late tries for Richmond putting a bit of respectability to the scoreline, and earning a 4 try bonus point. This was Chinnor’s first victory over Richmond in 5 attempts, and their two previous visits to Richmond’s Athletic Ground ( RAG ) had ended in defeats.

A deeper background on Richmond can be found in the report on that match.

 https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/11/chinnor-55-26-richmond-att-800-est.html

Matchday Information

The journey from Thame to Richmond is around 50 miles and took just over an hour.

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was cloudy, with some blue skies, but it was windy. The temperature was 8.5 degrees but some showers were forecast for later in the afternoon.

Tickets for the match for non-members were £18 in advance or £20 on the gate. Under 16s were allowed in for free, whilst students were charged £6, and Richmond members £12. The programme for the match was online but free, and was a good effort, although the links to drill down to the detailed articles was a minor pain.

Parking was free, although confusingly there were signs stating that permits needed to be displayed otherwise a £100 fine would be imposed. Fortunately, a home supporter said that he thought that didn’t apply on matchdays and was only applied for parking on the site during the week. He said he had never been punished….

The RAG had changed since my one visit back in 1996, with the stand on the far side having disappeared. The bar and all the coffee/drink/food stalls were outside of the turnstiles so spectators were stamped on the hand to allow access in and out to get refreshments during the match. The bar had London Pride, Grolsch, Guinness and Cider on tap, but I didn’t partake as I was driving. The coffee bar had a huge range of options.

On the pitch opposite the entrance was a match between Richmond Saxons and Chinnor Falcons, which I watched for about 15 minutes. I saw Chinnor score a converted try, but no-one seemed to know the score !

The RAG was under the Heathrow flight path today, so if the game was dull, we could always watch the planes landing !

Making his debut for Richmond today was lock Cameron Gray, who made 18 appearances for Chinnor in two loan spells from Coventry in 2018/19 and 2019/20. Also starting for Richmond was ex-Ealing and London Scottish Number 8 Mark Bright, who missed the match at Chinnor. Hooker Alexander Post remained their top try scorer, now on 14 for the season, which incidentally also made him the top points scorer for the club.  Richmond’s average home attendance this season prior to today was 831.

Chinnor made one change to their starting XV from last week, with centre Morgan Passman returning after injury, with Grant Hughes moving to the wing and Jason Worrall dropping to the bench.

Richmond were playing in their traditional yellow, red and black hoops with black shorts whilst Chinnor were in their usual black and white.

Match Report

Richmond kicked off towards the town end and scrum-half Matt Marsh soon delivered a bouncing kick into touch midway into the Chinnor half. Chinnor won their line-out and flanker Max Clementson made a break which was ended by a high tackle near the half-way line, enabling Chinnor to have a line-out on the Richmond 22.

Lock Oli Curry won the line-out and scrum-half Luke Carter snipped for the try line but was halted, as was James Bourton. However, Chinnor put the ball through the hands and wing Grant Hughes had an overlap and was able to dive over in the corner for the opening score. The attempted conversion from Worboys slid wide of the posts so it was 0-5 after 4 minutes.

At the ruck from the restart, Chinnor prop Hardwick picked up and went through a gap, but Carter dropped his off-load. Richmond attacked out wide but when the ball was moved back inside number 8 Bright knocked on in the tackle for a scrum just outside the Chinnor 22.

Chinnor attempted to attack from the scrum but Curry was penalised for not releasing and the home side opted to take the points, and fly-half Lewis Dennett successfully slotted from a central position 30 yards out. 3-5 after 9 minutes.

The restart from Worboys went straight into touch to give Richmond the scrum on half-way, from which they won a penalty to move into the Chinnor 22. After securing their ball, centre Paddy Case went on a crash-ball, and with a penalty advantage, Richmond spread the ball to the left, where hooker Post was lurking on the wing to go over in the corner. Dennett’s conversion from the touch-line looked poor but somehow sneaked over the bar ! It was now 10-5 with 13 minutes played.

Chinnor looked to quickly respond and went through the phases, but again fell foul of the referee, and Richmond were able to get to the Chinnor 10 metre line. However, they knocked-on at the line-out and Chinnor then knocked on in the tackle when they tried to attack. At the subsequent scrum, Chinnor won a penalty but full-back Feeney failed to find touch with his touch-finder, and Richmond cleared to their 10 metre line. It had all become very scrappy.

Chinnor’s rolling maul from the line-out made 10 metres, enabling Chinnor to chip towards the corner flag. Hughes looked to have gathered to score but had put a foot into touch. Chinnor won the 5 metre line-out, and with a penalty advantage hooker Walker crashed over in the corner. This time the attempted conversion went wide of the other upright, so the score moved to 10-10 after 20 minutes.

The home side then had a promising attack, but a loose pass went straight into touch for a Chinnor line-out, from which Hughes broke through the heart of the Richmond defensive lines and he didn’t need the support of the players either side of him, scorching over the line for a super solo half of the length of field try. This time Worboys was successful from the tee and Chinnor took a 10-17 lead after 24 minutes.

Shortly after the restart, Carter sent a clearing kick high into the air, but three Richmond players all got in the way of each other trying to take the catch. Chinnor pounced onto the loose ball, but Feeney’s long-kick was poor and straight down the throat of Richmond full-back Alex O’Meara, whose return kick was much better and took play back to the Chinnor 22.

Chinnor won their line-out but the attempted clearance kick was charged down by Richmond flanker Miles Wakeling, but his attempted kick ahead was too heavy and the ball went dead for a Chinnor 22 drop-out.

Chinnor lock Conor Brockschmidt was then pinged by the referee for being off his feet at the ruck and Dennett stepped up to kick the penalty from Chinnor’s 10 metre line. 13-17 after 27 minutes.

Richmond’s tails were up and O’Meara and Obonna showed good hands to run down their right wing but Obonna was penalised for not releasing inside the Chinnor 22, and some backchat saw the penalty advanced 10 metres away from the Chinnor line.

Hughes made another good break for Chinnor but his offload to Goss was ruled by the touch judge to have gone forward.

At this point the heavens opened forcing the crowd on the open far side and those standing by the touch-line in front of the main stand to seek sanctuary. Unfortunately, three cigar smoking blokes came to sit near to where I was and stank the place out. Obviously, the RAG is not a no-smoking venue……….

On the pitch a bout of kick-tennis ensued until Hughes beat three would be tacklers, but Chinnor subsequently knocked on. With the wind rising, Dennett’s kick sailed over the Chinnor defence and bounced into touch deep inside the Chinnor 22 for a 50/20 line-out.

Richmond won their line-out and Marsh and Obonna went for the try line and were stopped 15 yards out, but the referee deemed it to have been illegal and invited Clementson to have a 10 minute rest. Again, Richmond chose to take the points rather than go to the corner, and Dennett added his third penalty. It was now a one-point game, with the score 16-17 after 36 minutes.

For the second time, Worboys’ restart went straight out of play but from Richmond’s scrum on the halfway line Chinnor won against the head with a player down, but their penalty advantage came to nothing. Feeney kicked the penalty to 5 metres, but the line-out throw wasn’t straight. Richmond won their scrum ball and then kicked it out to end the first half.

Despite scoring three tries to one, Chinnor headed to the dressing rooms only one point ahead, but had had made too many unforced errors and their ill-discipline had kept Richmond in the game. Furthermore, the rain and strong wind had abated so the elements were now only marginally in their favour for the second period.

Upon the resumption, Richmond quickly gave away a penalty but Feeney’s kick to corner was kept in play by Obonna, who then set off on a mazy run out of his 22. His off-load to giant prop Mpiko helped Richmond to mid-way inside their half, where they forced a penalty.

Shortly after, O’Meara attempted a kick ahead but ran 20 metres before running into a stationary Chinnor player, and although the home crowd roared for a penalty, the referee wasn’t interested, and frankly neither were many of the Richmond players.

Chinnor then won a penalty advantage for a high tackle and Hughes made 20 yards down the wing, after which good interplay between their backs and forwards took them to within 10 metres of the Richmond line, when another high tackle resulted in the referee blowing his whistle for a penalty. Feeney’s kick to the corner only narrowly avoided going dead and from the line-out the Chinnor pack rumbled over but were deemed to have been held up, for a 5 metre scrum to the home side.

Richmond were able to take play to their 10 metre line, but Brockschmidt won the line out for Chinnor, although their attack ended when Feeney was dragged into touch just inside the Richmond 22. Chinnor were now on top but infringed at the line-out to give Richmond some breathing space.

In the 51^st minute Carter’s kick was fielded by Richmond’s Marsh, but his clearing kick was charged down by Hughes but the Chinnor winger was just unable to get to the loose ball before it went out of play by the corner flag.

From Richmond’s throw, a Chinnor hand got to the ball, and number 8 Ryan caught it and dived over the line, but the referee correctly recognised the ball had gone forward from the Chinnor hand so awarded a 5 metre scrum to Richmond. Despite being under pressure, the Richmond pack were able to drive to their 22, then Marsh was able to clear.

However, Hughes then went on a zig-zagging run from just inside the Richmond half and broke through the Richmond back-line to cross close to the Richmond posts for another stunning try and his third of the match. Worboys’ conversion was good, and the 100+ Chinnor supporters inside the RAG could now breath more easily with the bonus point in the bag and the score moving to 16-24 after 55 minutes.

Richmond’s Dennett then dropped an easy high catch, and Chinnor were all over it, but Carter spoilt things by knocking on when Chinnor attempted to go wide.

A  good shove sent the Richmond scrum backwards and the ball popped out of the back of the scrum, but Richmond were able to clear, only for Chinnor to launch wave after wave of attacks. Winger Goss looked to have escaped down the left wing but was pulled back by a great tackle, and when Chinnor reworked, Richmond again infringed and Chinnor had another 5 metre line-out, but a poor throw gave Richmond the chance to temporarily clear their lines.

On a rare incursion into the Chinnor half, Dennett’s chip ahead bounced favourably for him to re-gather but he was bundled into touch a few metres from the Chinnor line. Chinnor won their line-out, and their pack rumbled to their 22 where a high tackle on Carter as he attempted to break gave Chinnor a penalty, and they were back into the Richmond half. However, another poor kick, this time from Feeney, went dead.

After two knock-ons, Chinnor had a scrum mid-way inside their own half and won a penalty. When Chinnor entered the Richmond 22, the referee awarded a penalty, and then showed a yellow card to Richmond substitute Burrage, presumably for something said about the decision ? It got worse for Richmond when Chinnor’s rolling maul was heading for the try-line when the referee deemed it had been illegally pulled down and awarded a penalty try, and for good measure, a yellow card was shown to Maggs. Richmond were down to 13 and losing 16-31 after 71 minutes.

It was effectively game over, and when Dennett’s kick was charged down by Brockschmidt, the lock then hacked forward for Worboys to outpace the cover defence to score close to the corner. Although the conversion was missed, Chinnor now led 16-36 with 77 minutes on the clock.

There was still time for Brockschmidt to make a huge tackle on the unsuspecting Wakeling, and the Chinnor counter gave them a line-out 10 metres out. After a series of drives, a long pass found Goss in space and the wing cantered over for the final try of the match. Again the difficult conversion drifted wide to end the match, with the final score 16-41.

With Chinnor recording their first ever victory at the RAG, they remained 5 points ahead of Rams, who had a bonus point win over Blackheath, with three games left to play. The league now has a one week break due to Easter, and resumes a week later when Chinnor host lowly Leicester Lions whilst Rams face a tough looking trip to Plymouth Albion.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk60hUFBCkg

Link To Matchday Programme : https://www.zeeon.co.uk/gamehubplus/richmond-v-chinnor