Chinnor 42-12 Leicester Lions ( att : 1,876 ) – National League One

April 6, 2024

Chinnor’s social media accounts had been in overdrive in the build-up to their final home match of the season, describing today’s fixture against Leicester Lions as the biggest match in the club’s history, and urging fans to turn out in their numbers to again break their highest attendance record, which was the 2,437 for the Friday Night’s Lights match against Rams in December. The half-time tannoy announcement implied this had been achieved but the official attendance given later was a lower figure !

Chinnor went into today’s match five points ahead of Rams, and a bonus point win combined with Rams taking zero points from a difficult looking trip to Plymouth Albion could leave Chinnor with a 10 point lead and a better points difference of over 300, which would all but mathematically make Chinnor champions.

Given the competitive nature of National League One though, nothing can be taken for granted, and in all probability the biggest match in Chinnor’s history was likely to be either next week at Birmingham Moseley, or even the final game of the season at Darlington Mowden Park !

 

Leicester Lions

Leicester Lions play in Blaby, which is about 6 miles south of Leicester. The club was formed in 1998 following the merger between Westleigh and Wigston.

Leicester Lions were making their first ever visit to Kingsey Road, and were in 12^th place in the table. With the demise of Jersey Reds from the Championship, only two sides will be relegated from National League One this season so Leicester Lions, in their first season at this level, six points ahead of Cinderford with three games still to be played, still had everything to play for.

Leicester Lions had notched up some impressive victories, including a remarkable 26-24 home win over Rams, who had been unbeaten up until that point, whilst Sale, Plymouth Albion, Sedgley Park, Cinderford & Taunton had all also been beaten at Westleigh Park. On the road, the Lions had recorded wins at Richmond, Blackheath and Taunton.

When these two sides met back in December, it was close at half-time, with Chinnor holding a narrow 19-15 lead, and only in the second half did Chinnor’s forwards start to dominate. Eventually Chinnor pulled away to win 40-15.

Centre Jamal Hamilton made 14 appearances for Chinnor in 2017, scoring six tries, and Northampton Saints wing Will Glister had made one substitute appearance for Chinnor this season and 6 appearances for Leicester Lions, scoring one try for each side. Perhaps diplomatically, he wasn’t appearing for either side today !

Ex-Birmingham Moseley fly-half Daniel Lewis was the division’s third highest points scorer on 164 points, whilst scrum-half James Stubbs was their leading try scorer with nine.

Matchday Information

The journey from Blaby to Thame is just over 75 miles and should normally take between 75 to 90 minutes.

Chinnor were marketing today as a “Club Family Day”. Their Under 10’s and Under 11s were playing their equivalents from Leicester Lions at 13.00, whilst burgers, crepes, pizzas and ice creams were available from street vendors inside the ground. There was also a giant inflatable assault course, and face painting. There were huge queues at the bars and for the burgers, and the scoreboard bar was not open, so Fatbear went without a traditional pre-match drink. The scoreboard bar did open after kick-off, but the queues were horrendous. Mrs Fatbear turned up during the second half, and had to wait around 25 minutes, getting served just before the match finished…….

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was cloudy, with some blue skies, but it was very windy, with occasional gusts of over 40mph. The temperature was around 16 degrees, so despite the wind it was quite warm.

Chinnor made one change to their starting XV from the side that played at Richmond, with Stokes replacing Wharton at blindside flanker. The annoy announced that this would be the last home games for Chinnor for Number 8 Willie Ryan and hooker Mark Darlington, as they would be retiring at the end of the season.

Lions made 6 changes to their side that lost at Bishop’s Stortford, including three players on dual registration with Leicester Tigers, wings Malelili Satala and Charlie Davies, and flanker Simon Koroiyadi, who played for England Under 19s last month.

Leicester Lions were playing in a mostly purple shirt with the orange and red logo of their Burger King sponsors, with black shorts and socks. Chinnor were in their usual black and white.

Match Report

Chinnor kicked off towards the ring-road end, giving Lions the advantage of the first half gale. The kick-off was caught in the wind, bounced just beyond the 10 metre line before heading back towards the half-way line. Bourton managed to keep the ball in play, and Walker’s inside pass saw Hardwick surge through a gap in the Lions defence to get to their 22.  After Chinnor reworked possession, Ryan charged over the try line and a straight forward conversion gave Chinnor a 7-0 lead with less than a minute played.

From the restart Lions won a penalty near half-way and kicked to inside the Chinnor 22. Koroiyadi won their line-out, but the ball was dropped in midfield as they tried to run the ball. It appeared Chinnor were awarded a free-kick at the scrum, but they opted to scrum again. Carter sent a lovely long pass to Hughes on the touchline, who made ground, but the inside pass was knocked on by Ryan. Lions continued to play on but also knocked on in the tackle, but they had the input at the scrum, from which Lewis sent an excellent left-footed 50/20 kick inside the Chinnor 22.

Lions failed to win their line-out, but two Chinnor clearing kicks were caught in the wind, enabling Lions to continue to attack, but Hamilton knocked on. However, Lions had a penalty advantage, which they kicked to within 10 metres of the Chinnor try line.

Chinnor stole the line-out, but Carter’s clearing kick was kept in play by full-back Joey Patrick, but the attempted kick to touch went straight out so Chinnor had a scrum near their 10 metre line. After half-breaks by Hughes and Worboys, Hardwick knocked on.

From the scrum, Lions attempted to run but a crunching tackle from Clementson produced turnover for Chinnor but their attack was well defenced by Lions. An attempted long pass from Passman was intercepted by Patrick who kicked to the Chinnor 22, where Chinnor forced a penalty, which took them back to half-way.

After several phases of possession, a Chinnor pass went directly into touch, although they had a penalty advantage. The kick took Chinnor to mid-way into the Lions half, and when the rolling maul from the line-out was rumbling forward after Curry had claimed the line-out, scrum-half Carter spotted a gap in the Lions defence to raced over and then headed towards the post to make the conversion a bit easier. Worboys added the extras to take the score to 14-0 after 20 minutes.

Chinnor gathered the restart, but Carter’s kick went backwards with the wind, but Ryan was available to make the catch, and Lions were deemed offside. Chinnor kicked to their 10 metre line but they must have infringed somehow as a penalty was awarded to Lions from where the penalty had been taken from, which took them back to 10 metres from the Chinnor line.

Godefroy won the line-out for the Lions and with a penalty advantage the Lions forwards drove towards the try-line.  Prop Dawson was held up short of the line, but scrum-half Stubbs looked up to see a two man overlap out wide, and after a pass from Patrick, wing Satala was able to cross unopposed in the corner. Lewis produced a superb left-footed conversion from out wide, perfectly judging the wind, to bring the score to 14-7 after 26 minutes.

Chinnor regained possession from the restart and Ryan ran deep into the Lions 22 but Koroiyadi won turnover possession for his side. However, possession was kicked away, and from a lovely delayed pass from Worboys, Passman was able to accelerate past the static defenders to run under the posts from close to the Lions 10 metre line for a spectacular try. With the extras from Worboys, Chinnor now led 21-7 with 29 minutes on the clock.

A high tackle by Hughes on Satala enabled Lions to get back to within 5 metres of the Chinnor line with the Lions bench appealing for further sanctions. Although Johnson caught the line-out and charged for the try-line, Lions were pinged for crossing to give Chinnor a scrum on their 5 metre line. Carter cleared to his 22 metre line, but Lions’ Ward stole the line-out to enable Hamilton to make a break, and prop Dawson drove for the line only to be held-up short of the line. However, Chinnor had infringed, and the penalty was again kicked to 5 metres.

The rolling maul from the Lions’ line-out was going nowhere and Chinnor were awarded the scrum. However, a miscommunication between Carter and Goss saw the scrum-half’s pass going straight into touch, to give Lions another great attacking platform. Again though, the Lions rolling maul failed to make any impression, and Chinnor had another scrum 5 metres from their line.

Chinnor won a penalty at the scrum, but the penalty kick was held in the wind and failed to go beyond the 22 metre line. Lions again won a line-out against the throw but then infringed during the rolling maul.

Chinnor won another penalty for a deliberate knock-on, although no card was shown, and were back into the Lions half, but were pinged for not releasing. It was Chinnor’s turn to steal a line-out and Carter snipped down a gap close to the touchline to take play into the Lions 22. The visitors though won possession but an attempted kick into the Chinnor half caught the wind and went beyond the dead-ball line, and the referee blew the whistle to end the half.

Chinnor would have been pleased with their lead at the interval and with the strong wind at their backs, would have been confident of adding to their lead in the second half.

Despite playing into the wind, Lions started the second half on the front-front and a long pass from Hamilton send Patrick scampering down the left-hand touchline, but a great tackle from Hughes put the full-back into touch and gave Chinnor the line-out.

Lions won the Chinnor line-out, but play became very loose as they attempted to attack from all over the field, until Goss made an interception catch from which prop Hardwick kicked long from inside his own half, but again it caught the wind to bounce over the dead-ball line.

From their scrum just beyond half-way Leicester Lions continued their adventurous play but there was no way through the  disciplined Chinnor defence, and eventually hooker Thompson dropped the ball for a Chinnor scrum.

Hughes made a strong run for Chinnor, but the referee pulled play back for a scrum for the visitors. However, Chinnor won a penalty and kicked to 5 metres. They won their line-out and after a series of drives close to the Lions try line, the ball was released for wing Goss to canter over under the posts. Worboys again added the straight-forward conversion, and Chinnor now led 28-7 after 53 minutes.

Lions continued to play their expansive game but infringed again at a ruck, which Feeney kicked to take Chinnor back to 5 metres from the Lions line, but they knocked on to give the visitors a scrum 5 metres from their line. The Leicester Lions scrum was under pressure, but they managed to secure the ball, but when they opted to pass along their backs, Hamilton opted to leave the pass to a team-mate, resulting in the ball bounce into their in goal area, forcing Satala to touch down to give Chinnor a 5 metre scrum.

Despite a good shove from the Lions pack to put Chinnor’s forwards under pressure, the home side managed to play the ball, and after a great dummy, Worboys dived over the whitewash for another try for Chinnor, which also gave him an easy conversion, to make it 35-7 after 60 minutes.

Leicester Lions continued to attack when they had the ball, and after a flowing move Lewis released Satala down the wing, but Lions were penalised for not releasing. Chinnor took play down the other end where Stokes, Woodward and Ryan all drove for the line but there was no way through the determined Lions tackling. Lions managed to turnover the ball, and Ogden, Bouchier and Hamilton were all involved in a flowing move before Chinnor illegally halted the move. A quick tap was taken, which saw Lewis on the loop with Hamilton but his pass went behind Satala. However, the referee brought play back for a penalty, and another quick tap was taken, from which the Lions forwards forced their way over the try-line. Hooker Thompson was credited with the score, and the conversion was taken so quickly I didn’t see it, but I was advised it missed. Nevertheless, the score moved to 35-12 with 67 minutes gone.

Play then became scrappy, as Chinnor in particular, were attempting over ambitious passes or off-loads that went to ground, giving the Lions the opportunity to clear their lines.

Chinnor’s sloppy play continued in defence with a clearing kick charged down, and Feeney’s clearing kick from inside his 22 went all the way down field and stopped on the edge of the in-goal line. The referee ignored the home supporters’ claims the ball was still in play, so Lions had a scrum inside the Chinnor 22, from which a high tackle on Hamilton gave the visitors another penalty, but there was still no way through the staunch Chinnor defence.

Lions continued to attack from both sides of the field to try and find a way through the Chinnor defence but were struggling to make a breach, but when the ball was thrown long to the right wing, Goss attempted to make an interception but couldn’t hold onto the catch, and was subsequently shown a yellow card for the knock-on.

Lions had 5 minutes with the extra player, and kicked to within 5 metres. Unfortunately for Leicester Lions the throw over the back of the line-out was deemed to be not straight and Chinnor had the scrum.

Chinnor took play into the Lions half but knocked on, but then won a scrum against the head, and won a penalty. They kicked to get into the Lions 22. Brockschmidt won the line-out for Chinnor but the Lions won the decision at the ruck. However, another good shove by the Chinnor pack won a penalty, and they were back to 5 metres out. It looked like Darlington, in his last home game before retirement, had forced his way over but the referee adjudged he had been held up. However, Chinnor had another penalty, and this time Ryan barged over for another try in his last home game. Worboys’ excellent conversion gave a final score of 42-12.  

As Chinnor celebrated their victory, news came in that Rams had lost 22-28 at Plymouth, but their two bonus points from their game meant they were now 8 points behind Chinnor with two matches  remaining to be played. Three points in their last two matches would guarantee the title and promotion for Chinnor.

At the bottom, wins for Cinderford and Taunton and a defeat for Bishop’s Stortford meant the bottom four we now separated by just four points. Whichever way you look the final two weeks of the National League One season, it’s going to be exciting !

Highlights : https://fb.watch/rjPvJu7k4i/