May 2, 2025
Tonight saw the third and final installment this season of Friday Night Lights at Kingsey Road with the visit of Nottingham. The two previous Friday night matches were the Not The Prem Cup encounter with Cambridge in November, and on a bitterly cold night in January a crowd of 2,146, the second highest ever for a Chinnor home game, turned up to see Chinnor give a good account of themselves against Champions elect Ealing Trailfinders, before ultimately losing 8-28.
Friday night games at Chinnor have traditionally been seen as events, attracting larger than normal attendances, with the ground record being 2,437 for a Friday night match against Rams last season.
A decent crowd was anticipated for Nottingham’s first ever visit to Kingsey Road, with a high scoring encounter in prospect as Nottingham seemed to either score highly, or ship lots of points. A fireworks display was scheduled for half-time, and fireworks were anticipated for during the match !
Chinnor Update
Chinnor had played just the one match since these diaries reported on their exciting 31-33 lost to Cornish Pirates, when they were well beaten at in form Doncaster Knights. Doncaster notched up a 38-14 victory to exact some revenge for their loss at Chinnor, after Storm Darragh had caused a floodlight failure when Chinnor led with 12 minutes remaining to be played and the RFU ruled that the 18-13 scoreline should stand. It was Chinnor’s heaviest defeat of the season.
Nottingham RFC
Nottingham RFC were formed in 1877 and now play at the 3,700 capacity Lady Bay Sports Ground. Their nickname is The Archers, after Nottingham’s association with Robin Hood, and their home kit is a two-tone green shirt with black shorts.
Nottingham’s heyday was in the late 1980s/early 1990s when Brian Moore, Rob Andrew, Gary Rees and Simon Hodgkinson all represented England whilst playing for Nottingham, and Chris Gray played for Scotland. Moore was also selected for the British Lions whilst a Nottingham player.
Dusty Hare was a Nottingham player when he made his England debut in 1974, and Neil Back started his career with Nottingham before moving on to Leicester and England.
More recently, full-back Ellis Mee played for Nottingham in 2023/24 before moving to Scarlets and making his Welsh debut against Ireland in this year’s Six Nations.
When the League structures were introduced in England in 1987/88, Nottingham were placed in the top division, but they were relegated at the end of 1991/92. In 1996/97 there were relegated from the second tier, but won promotion back from the third level National League One in 2003/04.
Nottingham have remained in the second level Championship ever since, their best finish being in 2012/13 when they finished second in the regular season but lost to Bedford Blues in promotion play-off semi-finals.
Due to a reduction in funding from the RFU Nottingham moved from a full-time side to part-time in 2020/21.
Last season Nottingham finished 8th in the Championship when their average home attendance was 1,161.
Nottingham This Season
Nottingham started the day in 7th place with an 8-0-9 record, and they were 3-0-5 away from home.
Last time out Nottingham had crushed back-markers Cambridge 61-22 at home, but prior to that they had lost four on the trot, suffering an embarrassing 19-87 thrashing at Bedford Blues, slipping to a narrow 28-33 home loss to London Scottish, a 5-82 thumping at Ealing Trailfinders, and before that a 32-43 defeat at resurgent Ampthill.
Prior to this dismal run, Nottingham had recorded an impressive 43-18 victory over full-time Doncaster. Another notable win was a 41-26 success over Coventry, which was followed up by a 22-27 loss at struggling Caldy.
Nottingham had won at Doncaster on the second day of the season ( 30-14 ), and their other away wins were at London Scottish ( 48-14 ) and Cambridge ( 43-10 ).
Nottingham had a dismal Premiership Cup campaign, losing all 6 matches. Although the margin of defeat at Northampton was only 29-31, hammerings were suffered against Leicester Tiger ( H 29-70 & A 19-57 ), Coventry ( A 21-76 ) and Northampton ( H 33-66 )
The average home league attendances for The Archers this season were slightly up at 1,208.
Nottingham Squad
Fly-half Matthew Arden was The Archers leading points scorer with 128 points whilst ex-Ampthill back-row forward Jack Dickinson was the top try scorer with 10 tries. Long serving wing Harry Graham and ex-Jersey Reds wing and England Sevens player Ryan Olowofela had both scored 9 tries each.
Full-back/centre Jack Stapley was another ex-Jersey Red and prop Aniseko Sio was a Samoa international and had played for Leicester Tigers. Winger David Williams was also an ex-Leicester Tiger and was to make his 150th appearance for The Archers tonight.
Prop Kai Owen was previously with Worcester Warriors and Doncaster Knights, whilst fellow prop and Swedish international Ale Loman was on loan from Leicester Tigers, as was lock Osian Thomas, prop Archie van der Flier, lock Tom Manz, and ex-England Under 20 captain and flanker Finn Carnduff.
Scrum-half Toby Venner had done the rounds, having played from Gloucester, Hartpury, Bristol, jersey Reds and Coventry, whilst New Zealand centre Kegan Christian-Goss was not to be confused with ex-Tottenham Hotspur Swiss manager Christian Gross, or Chinnor’s Kieran Goss !
Previous Meeting
The two sides had only met on one previous occasion, when the reverse league fixture was played in Nottingham in December, and The Archers edged to a 19-15 victory in front of a crowd of 1,025.
Chinnor led 3-0 at the break but Nottingham started the second half well to establish a 19-3 lead. However, Chinnor scored two tries to reduce the deficit to four points. A last minute penalty was kicked to the corner aiming to set-up a 5 metre lineout and a rolling maul, but Archers full-back Williams made an athletic leap to keep the ball in play, and Nottingham cleared to end the game.
Chinnor and Nottingham Connections
A few Chinnor players have progressed from the National League to play Championship Rugby for Nottingham. Home-grown teenage Chinnor starlet Will Millett played for Nottingham after going to Loughborough University. The Covid Pandemic saw lock Jack Ramshaw, and back-row forwards Carl Kirwan and Willie Ryan leave Chinnor to continue playing rugby at professional Nottingham, although Ryan had since returned to Chinnor.
Chinnor Mini and Junior Scott Hall played once in National League Two for Chinnor in 2015/16 before going to Nottingham Trent University and playing for Leicester Tigers and Nottingham. He returned to Chinnor for this season.
Nottingham’s Matthew Arden played two matches as a substitute for Chinnor last season on loan from Northampton Saints whilst prop Tim Hoyt had played for both Nottingham and Chinnor on loan from Leicester Tigers.
Matchday Information
According to AA route planner, the journey from Nottingham to Thame is 112 miles and should normally take two hours 10 minutes.
The weather at the 19.45 kick-off was still sunny and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was 20 degrees and the infamous Chinnor breeze was absent.
Adult tickets purchased online were £17 but £14 for members. For over £65s it was £14 and £12 for students. Prices at the gate were £19 for adults and £16 for members. With the member’s 10% discount, a pint of XT Session Amber was £5.18. An online programme had been produced in advance of today’s game.
Nottingham made seven changes to the XV that started against Cambridge, with Sio and Dickinson dropping to the bench, whilst Jack Shine, George Timmins, Toby Venner, Marcus Ramage and Levi Roper all missed out completely. In their place came van der Flier, Manz, Carnduff, Graham, Olowefola, flanker Jacob Wright and ex-Doncaster Knights scrum-half Will Yarnell. With fly-half Tom Threfall amongst the substitutes, Chinnor were up against 6 Leicester Tigers tonight !
Chinnor made six changes to the side that lost at Doncaster, with four changes in the backs and two in the forwards. In came Grant Hughes, Morgan Passman, Luke Carter, Nathan Chamberlain, Willie Ryan and Chris Moore, whilst James Bourton, Epi Rokodrava and Alun Walker dropped to the bench, and Callum Pasoce, Johnny Green and Connor Slevin missed out.
Nottingham were in a change kit of purple shirts with black shorts, whilst Chinnor were in their usual black and white hoops
Match Report
Chinnor kicked off towards the ring-road end. Nottingham struggled to get out of their 22 and were forced to send a clearing kick high into the air. Chamberlain made the catch on Chinnor’s 10 metre line, and the home side launched an attack, with Passman and Tom Watson making breaks but the move was stopped just short of the try-line. With a penalty advantage, an attempted floated long pass was knocked on by full-back Nick Smith with the try-line beckoning.
With a penalty in front of the posts, Chinnor declined taking an early three-point lead and kicked to the corner, where they knocked on at the lineout to give Nottingham a scrum on their 5-metre line. The Archers were under pressure at the scrum but were able to clear to midway inside their half.
Chinnor won their lineout and probed for a way through the Nottingham defence, but the visitors won a penalty at a ruck and took play to halfway. Thomas won the lineout for Nottingham, who then won a penalty for a high tackle.
Nottingham won their lineout and but the Chinnor defence was good, forcing Arden to play a grubber kick which Hughes gathered and carried into touch. A similar move followed but this time it was Graham with the low kick which Hughes took into touch close to the Chinnor line. Manz won the lineout for Nottingham, and their pack efficiently rumbled over the line for the opening score of the game, with hooker Harry Clayton credited with the try. Arden’s attempted conversion drifted wide, so it was 0-5 after 10 minutes.
Nottingham knocked on at the restart to give Chinnor the scrum, from which several drives were made at the Archers’ defence, which eventually yielded a penalty at a ruck, and Chinnor were deep into the Nottingham 22. George Shaw won the lineout for the home side and Nottingham illegally halted a move featuring Passman and Smith, but the penalty advantage came to nothing. Chinnor opted for a 5-metre scrum and won a scrum penalty, but after the advantage was again fruitless, Chinnor finally opted to take the points. Chamberlain kicked the penalty to bring the score to 3-5 after 20 minutes.
Carnduff won a lineout for the visitors and although Nottingham knocked on, they were awarded a penalty, which they kicked to inside the Chinnor 22. With lineout ball secured, Nottingham had several drives at the Chinnor defence, who won turnover ball at a ruck and kicked clear. However, Olowofela caught and ran back into the Chinnor half, and when the ball was spread along the Archers’ backline, the attempted interception by Hughes was knocked on, and a yellow card was shown to the Chinnor winger.
Nottingham kicked to the Chinnor 22, and took a quick throw to the front of the lineout whilst Chinnor were napping, and Clayton received the return pass to burst through a gap but was halted by a good tackle. Play was subsequently scrappy until Nottingham knocked on.
Chinnor were awarded a free-kick at a scrum for an early shove by the Nottingham pack, which was quickly kicked high and Graham dropped. Chinnor now had a scrum on the Archers’ 10 metre line, and another scrum penalty led to Chinnor kicking to within 5 metres of the Nottingham line. The throw was poor but Carter managed to gather the tap back from Shaw and Chinnor pressed for their opening try. Nottingham managed to stop Passman just short of the try-line, but with a three man overlap, a long pass was high and prop Rob Hardwick on the stretch knocked on inches from the try-line. Chinnor had butchered a great chance !
Nottingham had a drop-out from behind their try-line, and after being awarded a scrum, they were still being penned inside their half, but Carnduff gathered and kicked ahead. It looked like the flanker would beat the Chinnor cover to score, but as he dived on the ball to touchdown, the referee deemed the ball to have already crossed the dead-ball line so the try was ruled out. It was a narrow escape for the home side.
Chinnor dropped out from their 22-metre line but the Nottingham defence dithered on the clearance and the ball was allowed to bounce into the visitors’ 22. The clearing kick was sent high into the air which Chinnor full-back Smith dropped. Nottingham had a scrum close to halfway, which Chinnor won against the head, but then dropped the ball in midfield. Nottingham picked up and kicked straight to Goss, who unfortunately for the home side, kicked straight into touch for a Nottingham lineout on the Chinnor 10 metre line.
The throw was too high for Manz and Chinnor pounced onto the loose ball. Passman and Watson again made breaks through the centre of the Nottingham defence, then Chamberlain attempted a grubber kick which hit a defender, and the referee awarded a penalty to Chinnor in front of the posts. With half-time imminent, Chinnor decided to take the points, which Chamberlain duly did, to take the score to 6-5 with 39 minutes played.
There was still time for the restart, which Chamberlain promptly dropped and Stapley kicked through for Williams picked up and to mark his 150th appearance for the Archers with a try. Arden added the extras from close to the posts, to make the half-time score 6-12.
The simple tale of the first 40 minutes was that Nottingham had taken their chances whereas Chinnor had failed to do so. Although there was little in the way of fireworks on the pitch, a spectacular display lit up the sky during the interval.
Nottingham started the second period by kicking long, and Carter cleared to touch midway inside the Chinnor half. Chinnor stole the Nottingham lineout but play was messy and they were forced to kick, enabling Williams and Olowofela to make good runs deep into the Chinnor half. The home side were able to regain possession but again had to kick away. Olowofela gathered and was a little fortunate to see his kick bounce just in play rather than going straight out on the full. Smith retrieved the ball and ran back at the Nottingham defence, but was pinged for not releasing when tackled.
Nottingham kicked into the Chinnor 22, and although Chinnor again got a hand to the throw, it was knocked forward. Williams scythed through the heart of the Chinnor defence, and his pass to Olowofela gave the Archers’ full-back a clear run to score the visitors’ third try. Arden again pushed his conversion wide, so it was now 6-17 with 44 minutes on the clock.
It was Nottingham’s turn to knock on from the restart and from the scrum to Chinnor, Passman made a great break, and his inside pass gave Carter the opportunity to dive under the posts. Chamberlain added the easy conversion to bring the score to 13-17 after 47 minutes.
Chinnor were back in the game, and after a Nottingham clearing kick was partially charged down and Carnduff’s run was halted, they were awarded a penalty and were back to 5 metres from the Nottingham line. The lineout was claimed and the rolling maul seemed certain to score, until Nottingham flanker Jacob Wright amazingly appeared with the ball and the visitors were able to clear.
The Chinnor lineout was not straight but when Nottingham attempted to run from their scrum they knocked on. Chinnor attacked from their scrum but a deliberate knock-on from Olowofela prevented a certain try, and just when Chinnor picked up the loose ball and were about to score, the referee blew for a penalty. Olowofela walked off before the yellow card was produced, and although the referee and his assistant had a discussion, no penalty try was awarded. Instead Chinnor had a penalty which was kicked to 5 metres.
The Chinnor rolling maul looked like it would eventually cross the line, but a simple offload gave Carter the opportunity to cross in the corner, and the scrum-half was alert to run round close to the posts to simplify the conversion. Chamberlain duly added the extras so Chinnor now led 20-17 after 56 minutes.
Chinnor spilt the restart and Nottingham looked to take advantage, but Passman produced a crunching tackle on substitute Gwyn Parks. Chinnor turned over possession and spread the ball wide for Hughes to run past a number of defenders. He looked sure to score but a desperate tap tackle brought him down. Hughes though was alert enough to get back to his feet and run the last 10 metres to score. Chamberlain continued his 100% record from the tee to extend Chinnor’s lead to 27-17 with 59 minutes played.
Another fierce Chinnor tackle flattened Arden, but this time Nottingham were able to maintain possession. Shortly after, another flowing move involving Watson and Hughes took Chinnor to midway inside the Nottingham half, and although Chamberlain still had a lot of work to do, he was able to run clear of the cover defence to score Chinnor’s third try in the 10 minutes whilst the Archers were a man down. Chamberlain superbly converted his own try from close to the touchline as the score moved to 34-17 after 62 minutes.
Chinnor were now in the ascendancy and were awarded a penalty after a good run from Smith was illegally stopped, and they were back deep inside the Nottingham 22. From the lineout, Passman went on another marauding run past a couple of would-be tacklers but was brought down a foot short of the line. Chinnor reworked the ball and had several drives for the line, before looking up and spread the ball wide via Chamberlain and Watson for Hughes to scoot over in the corner for his second try of the evening. Chamberlain produced another splendid conversion as Chinnor now lead 41-17 after 69 minutes.
Nottingham seemed to be shellshocked and knocked on again at the restart, and Chinnor had another free-kick from the scrum. It was quickly taken, but Chinnor were pinged at a ruck, and the penalty took Nottingham to the Chinnor 22.
Nottingham won their lineout and their forwards did the business to score their fourth try to give them the bonus point, and substitute Antonio Harris was credited with the try. The attempted conversion from Parks was screwed horribly wide, so it was now 41-22 after 73 minutes.
Nottingham won a penalty at the restart when Rokodrava took out a Nottingham player in the air. When The Archers moved the ball wide from the lineout Olowofela made a strong run down the touchline but Rokodrava redeemed himself with a tremendous tackle.
Nottingham were searching for a consolation score, and a chip from Parks bounced into touch a few metres from the Chinnor line. Despite intense pressure, Chinnor won their lineout and Carter was able to clear to touch. The visitors won a penalty after winning their lineout, and were camped again 5 metres from the Chinnor line. Chinnor though were able to disrupt the lineout and were awarded the scrum 5 metres from their line. Again, Chinnor were put under pressure, but Carter was eventually able to get hold of the ball and kick into touch to end the match.
A strong second half performance deservedly gave Chinnor their fourth home victory of the season, which took them up one place above London Scottish in the table, although the Exiles were still to play this weekend’s game at second place Bedford Blues. Nottingham remained in 7th.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTUNuJd0yDY
No comments:
Post a Comment