October 5, 2024
After their promotion from National League One, Chinnor finally got to host a game in England’s Championship, the second level of English Rugby.
English Championship
Chinnor have already had an early exposure to how badly the RFU run rugby at this level, with the level of funding lower than anticipated, a league fixture list giving them only two home matches from the start of the season to the beginning of December, and together with Cambridge, being shafted by the exclusion from the Premiership Rugby Cup with a late decision to reduce the competition from 22 sides to 20 with only the top sides from last year’s Championship playing alongside the 10 clubs in the Gallager Premiership.
Naturally, this decision was made after annual budgets, pricing of season tickets etc had been made and now there are at least two fewer home matches and the loss of opportunities to obtain sponsorship, hospitality etc and a bumper crowd from hosting one game against one of English rugby’s elite.
Another major impact is that Chinnor and Cambridge now face five consecutive weeks in October and November, and six consecutive weeks in February and March without a competitive fixture. There has been no word yet of what, if any, compensation Chinnor and Cambridge will receive for their exclusion, or how the two clubs will be expected to fill these 11 blank week-ends. Maybe games can be arranged against Oxford and Cambridge Universities, or perhaps friendlies against Welsh, Irish or Scottish sides in the United Rugby Championship when they have their breaks for the autumn internationals and the Six Nations, or perhaps Chinnor and Cambridge are expected to play each other every week !
The Season So Far
Sides promoted from National League One typically struggle to adjust to the higher level until becoming more acclimatised as the season progresses. However, Chinnor bucked that trend in scoring nine tries in a 57-24 opening day victory at Cambridge, and followed that with a 29-31 defeat at Ampthill, missing a late penalty to win the game. The Ampthill squad contained 11 players dual registered with Saracens.
By taking seven points from their opening two fixtures, Chinnor sat in third place in the table, something very few people would have expected after two rounds. However, it is early days……….
Today’s opposition, Caldy, were bottom of the table with just one point, having started with a 19-45 reverse at Bedford before unexpectedly slipping up 21-26 at home to Cambridge, who bounced back from their thrashing at the hands of Chinnor.
Ground Improvements
A lot of work has been done to upgrade the facilities at Kingsey Road to be suitable to host matches in the second tier of English rugby.
There is a new pedestrian entrance for match days with a ticket office, immediately off the ring road, and there is a new traffic system, with all cars now having to enter the ground off Kingsey Road.
The Meccano stand at the ring road end of the pitch which enabled around 100 spectators to shelter from the rain has been dismantled, and replaced by a 350-seater temporary stand but it currently does not have a roof, meaning people sitting there will get wet when it rains, and will be exposed to the infamous Chinnor breeze !
A hard standing pathway has been laid around three sides of the ground and more astroturf installed by the clubhouse, so all soft areas between the club house and the pitch have been replaced.
A new gantry has been installed on the far side from the clubhouse, replacing the old filming one to meet minimum standards at this level. It has an extra storey with the filming gantry at the top, two DoR platforms at first floor level and the dug outs below.
There are now six bars inside the ground. In addition to the existing Members and Players bars in the clubhouse, and the pitch side Nest and the Try Line Terrance bars, there is now also the XT bar in the corner past the temporary stand ( with two XT brews available, the West Coast IPA XT3 and the Session Amber XT4, as well as Estrella and Guinness ), and The Turf Bar in a portacabin next to the clubhouse, which has a new media centre above. Lessons from last season seemed to have been learnt as the queues were much more reasonable !
Chinnor have announced that subject to the availability of further funding, a roof for the grandstand, whole ground PA, proper security fencing and some rain and sun cover in front of the clubhouse by the Nest bar are apparently next on the list for improvements.
Caldy
Like Chinnor, Wirral based Caldy are a grassroots club that have risen through the leagues to be amongst the top 24 clubs in the country.
If the Caldy supporters’ posts on rugby forum Rolling-Maul are to be believed, the visitors are unlikely participants at this level, having just a tiny wooden shack on a hill, where pot-noodles are considered gourmet food, as copious amounts of alcohol are consumed by the self-styled Ravers. However, this romantic image is slightly spoilt by a competitive side on the pitch !
Caldy were promoted to National League One after winning the 2016/17 National League Two North. The first meetings between these two sides came in 2018/19 after Chinnor won promotion by winning the 2017/18 promotion play-offs. Caldy snatched a 27-24 win at Chinnor early in the season, whilst Chinnor gained revenge at Paton Field with a 20-17 victory.
Caldy were relegated at the end of that season but spent only one season back in National League Two North, topping the table when the 2019/20 season was halted due to Covid, and were awarded the one promotion place on a points per game ratio.
The pandemic meant National League One didn’t resume until the 2021/22 when Caldy kicked a last-minute penalty to grab a 27-27 home draw. These diaries covered the return fixture in February 2022 when Caldy produced a masterclass on how to play into a gale force wind and generally strangled the life out of Chinnor with up-the-jumper rugby on their way to a 23-12 victory.
Caldy went on to win the National League One title to earn promotion to the Championship. In their first season Caldy finished a respectable 10th, above London Scottish and Richmond with seven wins, including notable successes over Ealing Trailfinders and Cornish Pirates.
Caldy found it tougher last season, again finishing 10th but only above Cambridge as the division now consisted of just 11 sides after the demise of Jersey. Only five victories were recorded, but this included a double over Doncaster Knights and a home win over Coventry. Ex-Sedgley Park and Ampthill winger Matt Gallagher was the top try scorer with 12 tries.
Their average attendance was 1,182, slightly down from the 1,288 in the previous season, but both were significantly up on the 638 average when they won National League One, which was bolstered by a remarkable crowd of 3,023 for the end of season title decider against Sale. In the Premiership Rugby Cup their two games against Ampthill and Sale Sharks averaged 2,094.
As an indication of the stability at Caldy, seven of the side that started against Chinnor back in February 2022 also started last week’s match against Cambridge. These were front-rowers Oliver Hearn and Nathan Ruston, lock Martin Gerrard, flanker Callum Ridgway, number 8 Josiah Dickenson and wings Nick Royle and Ben Jones. Chinnor also had seven players from that match who played last week at Ampthill
One other interesting name in the Caldy squad is Joe Sproston, who played for Ampthill at Chinnor in 2013/14 as a monster prop but clearly fancied himself as a flying winger, spending more time getting whitewash on his boots rather than getting involved in the hurly-burley of the forwards !
Matchday Information
Adult tickets purchased online were £15 but £12 for members. For over £65s and students it was £10. Tickets on the gate were £17.50, or £15 for members
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny with blue skies but the Chinnor breeze meant temperatures were around 15 degrees.
Caldy were in a kit of orange shirts with a black band on the front with their sponsor’s name, with black shorts and socks. Chinnor were in their black and white hoops with black shorts and socks.
I don’t know how many programmes were printed, but I didn’t see anyone handing them out inside the ground or at the pedestrians’ entrance. I did see one person with one, so they had been printed. Chinnor’s first match at this level would have been a collector’s item, especially so now if they are very scarce !
Match Report
Chinnor kicked off with the breeze and the kick was dropped by a Caldy defender. Chinnor gained possession and went left. Flanker Curran made a break and was able to offload to centre Passman, who put a foot in touch a few metres short of the tryline. Caldy butchered their line-out, with a poor tap from JJ Dickenson, and Chinnor prop Hardwick dived onto the loose ball for a try. With the conversion from Slevin, it was 7-0 after barely a minute and a dream start for Chinnor.
Caldy scrum-half Ollie Wynn sent a box kick high into the air, but Passman made a good catch and Chinnor put the ball through several pairs of hands as they looked to attack. However, Caldy centre Connor Wilkinson stole the ball and won a penalty, which Caldy kicked into the Chinnor 22.
Caldy applied a lot of pressure on the Chinnor defence, winning a number of penalties, but their rolling maul was not making much ground, and on one occasion their backs joined in the shove. Chinnor eventually won a scrum at which they were penalized, presumably for a delayed put in, and Caldy had another 5 metre line-out. This time Dickenson won the line-out ball, and the pack rumbled towards the try-line, only for Chinnor to illegally stop them. The referee awarded the penalty try and Dugmore was shown a yellow card. 7-7 after 10 minutes.
Caldy were unable to take advantage of having the extra man, and it was Chinnor who looked like getting the next score. Hughes made a break down the touchline to be stopped 10 metres short of the line, and Passman following up was stopped even closer.
In their next attack, Rokodrava made a break only to be tackled short of the line, then Wharton was illegally tackled going for the line for a penalty to Chinnor. Unfortunately for the home side, they were penalised for crossing at the 5 metre line-out, enabling Caldy to kick to their 22 metre line, where Chinnor again infringed at the line-out.
Caldy kicked to the 10 metre line but another messy line-out tap saw Chinnor win turnover ball, and Caldy knocked on when the ball was kicked into their 22. The scrum was steady and Chinnor moved the ball wide, but the pass from Hughes went into touch.
Dickenson won the line-out for Caldy but Chinnor were able to steal possession and their kick-ahead was fumbled by Caldy full-back Matt Kilcourse so Chinnor had a line-out on the visitors' 22. Carter made a break from the line-out but was halted by a fabulous tackle and knocked on as a result. The Caldy defence were heroically working overtime in the early stages of the game !
With Caldy having a scrum 10 metres from their own line, Chinnor were back-up to full strength. Caldy kept the ball in hand and slowly moved up field but spoilt the good work with a kick straight into touch.
Passman broke through two tackles but was stopped 5 metres short, and when Wharton drove for the line he was again illegally stopped. Prop Hardwick was able to barge over from the resulting 5 metre line-out for his second try, but Slevin’s conversion slid just wide in the wind. The score was now 12-7 with 24 minutes on the clock.
Shortly after the restart, a fabulous 50:20 from Feeney took Chinnor back inside the Caldy 22. Shaw won the line-out and Goss burst onto a short pass from Curran then offloaded to Wharton to crash over from close range. This time Slevin was able to add the extras as the score moved to 19-7 after 29 minutes.
From the restart, Carter kicked high and Caldy failed to deal with it, allowing the ball to bounce. Passman again made yards, and when Chinnor went wide, a Caldy defender appeared to deliberately knock-on to prevent a pass reaching Hughes but the referee only applied a penalty as the sanction and kept his card in his pocket.
Chinnor infringed at the subsequent line-out and Caldy were able to clear to midway inside their half from the free-kick. Chinnor’s line-out was thrown too long, and after a messy passage of play Caldy had a scrum on the half-way line.
The Caldy pack produced a good shove and won a scrum penalty, and although wing Alex Wills made a strong run down the right, he was stopped and the ball went out of play, so the referee took play back for the penalty.
Chinnor infringed again at a ruck, so another penalty took play into the Chinnor 22. Caldy’s rolling maul was going sideways so the ball was released to their backs. With Chinnor’s defence being good, fly-half Charlie Attis decided to step back into the hole, and kicked a drop-goal to ensure Caldy took something from their visit into the Chinnor 22. This took the score to 19-10 with 37 minutes played.
Hughes then made a scorching break down the right wing to take Chinnor back into the visitors’ 22. With firsth-half time just about up, Caldy kicked away possession and Chinnor claimed possession. Slevin made a delightful break in midfield and found Curran with him in support. The flanker’s floated pass gave wing Kieran Goss a free run to the corner to give Chinnor the try bonus point. Slevin’s conversion again went narrowly wide, but it was now 24-10 at half-time.
Chinnor fully deserved their lead at the interval but had possibly left 5 to 10 points out there and the game was far from secure. With the breeze possibly being worth 7 to 10 points, it promised to be a close and nervy second period !
The second half began with some cagey kick tennis, which ended with a poor Caldy kick being sliced into touch. A box kick put Caldy wing Jones under pressure near his corner flag, but he did well to clear to midway inside his half.
The game entered a phase of Chinnor pressing inside the Caldy half, but persistent infringements kept enabling Caldy to clear their lines.
Caldy eventually were able to take play back inside the Chinnor half but with a knock-on advantage they kicked away possession, from which Slevin called for the mark, which he took quickly to gain 15 metres before knocking on in a tackle.
Caldy seemed keen to test Chinnor’s defence under the high ball, but they didn’t seem to profit much from this tactic. Feeney in particular looked safe under the aerial threat, and dangerous in running the ball back at the visitors.
Caldy won a penalty to kick to inside the Chinnor 22, but the line-out wasn’t straight, and from the scrum, substitute scrum-half Callum Pascoe sniped down the blindside to give Hughes the chance to run past the half-way line, where Caldy were pinged for not rolling away at the ruck. Chinnor took a quick tap and Caldy were penalised again, but Slevin’s kick for the corner went dead. Caldy opted for a scrum from where the kick was taken.
Caldy kept forcing penalties from Chinnor as they worked their way up the field. However, Chinnor lock Shaw won a Caldy line-out and Slevin’s kick took Caldy way back into their own half.
Caldy scrum-half Wynn again chipped ahead, which Chinnor lock Ryan caught and called for the mark. He kicked for touch but it looked like the referee deemed he had been impeded and awarded a penalty, with Slevin kicked much further forward !
It was then Chinnor’s turn to kick, but Wills took the mark and a quick kick caught the Chinnor defence slight on the hop and the ball bounced in to the Chinnor 22.
Shaw won the Chinnor line-out and the home side gradually made their way towards the half-way line until they knocked on.
Feeney then confidently claimed another high ball and ran back into the Caldy half, and after Chinnor had kicked ahead into the Caldy 22, Wynn’s clearing kick went out on the full.
Feeney then went on another jinking run and fed Wharton, who was stopped by a high tackle. With a penalty in front of the posts and around 12 minutes remaining to be played, Chinnor opted to take the three points to leave Caldy needing three scores, but surprisingly Smith shanked his kick wide ! The Chinnor supporters were left wondering how costly this miss might turn out to be………
Chinnor launched a promising attack, but a knock-on left them exposed, and Wills made a strong break and fed Mitchell to head for the try-line but the pass from Mitchell to his teammate on the wing was poor. It looked like Chinnor had got away with it, but the ball hadn’t gone out of play, and Caldy reworked possession for Wynn to dart over the line. Jones added the extras, and it was now game on at 24-17 with 70 minutes played.
Another penalty conceded by Chinnor enabled Caldy to take play back into the Chinnor half, but although their line out was secured, Walker made an important interception, but Caldy were able to win turnover ball but their kick ahead landed on the touchline. Despite the protests of the Caldy players and bench, the divot was clearly visible on the line, so play was taken back for a line-out in the Caldy half.
From the line out, a scything break from Smith looked to have given Hughes a run to the try line to seal the win for Chinnor, but a super covering tackle meant the ball wasn’t grounded, and the scrum 5 went to Caldy.
More ill-discipline from Chinnor enabled Caldy to kick their way to within 30 metres of the Chinnor line with just over two minutes remaining. Unfortunately for the Ravers, the line-out was messed up and Chinnor had the scrum, from which they won an important penalty and some words out of turn marched Caldy a further 10 metres back.
Chinnor pressed into the Caldy half before a fabulous break by Smith gave Passman a free run into the corner. Smith further redeemed himself after his poor penalty miss with a superb touchline conversion ! The referee then blew for full time with the score 31-17.
Chinnor fully deserved to take 5 points from a marvelously entertaining match in which both sides played their part in front of a great crowd. The final score though was a little harsh on Caldy, who were deprived of a losing point at the death and had been pressing for a score to tie the match.
The pace and ferocity of the game were impressive, but both sides were guilty of giving away far too many penalties and may need to focus on their discipline.
With results elsewhere, Chinnor moved up to a scarcely believable second place in the table, and now have a top of the table clash at Coventry to look forward to next week. However, their opening three match had been against the sides currently making up the bottom three in the table.
Caldy remain bottom, but look to have a good pack, and should start picking up points soon.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMtQCj7cas4
