Saxons XV Match Reports
Top of the table clash!
Valentine’s Day at Weedon Lane saw no love between 2nd placed Saxons and top of the table Wallingford in what proved to be an extremely tightly contested affair. Whilst not a particularly ill-tempered affair (except maybe for an incident of slightly over-zealous ‘rucking’ - I forget who the culprit was!!), there were some examples of bone crunching tackles, most noticeably from skipper Tom Fletcher, who made sure no one passed him all day.
The Saxons lined up with the usual suspects, with only Lewis Culverhouse being drafted in at centre from the 1st XV as a last minute replacement for Ali Bruce, who injured himself during the warm up. Wallingford, on the other hand, seemed a slightly different team to the one encountered in the away leg of this fixture. Rather suspiciously, their 1st XV, who sit comfortably in mid-table 2 or 3 leagues above us, had their game cancelled due to them being unable to raise a side, but yet could field a 2XV….
So then, the Saxons line up was: 1. Gareth Bourne 2. Charlie Wilton 3. George Shanks 4. Colm Gilhooly 5. Pete Gibson 6. Luke Donnebaum 7. Danny Samuels 8. Matt Wall 9. Teddy Bear (sorry Teddy, I don’t know your surname, so I’ve had a guess at it being ‘Bear’. I’m doubting this is right, but if it is, what a name!!!) 10. Dave Neale 11. James Carty 12. Scott Jarrold 13. Lewis Culverhouse 14. Luke Johnson 15 Tom Fletcher (capt). Subs: 16. Ben Murray (on for Gibson) 17. Mike Sanford (on for Donnebaum) 18. Michael Buckler (on for Teddy Bear).
The first half did not provide a great deal to report on. The Saxons did, however, make a number of in-roads into the Wallingford defence, but were unable to convert chances into points, with a try being disallowed for a knock-on and Luke Johnson only just being beaten to the ball by a Wallingford player following a chip through from Dave Neale. So, despite the Saxons being arguably the better side in the 1st half, the half-time scored was 0-0.
The 2nd half was much the same, until Wallingford conceded a penalty in a kickable position. Luke Johnson accepted this invite to slot the kick and put the Saxons 3-0 up. This was then followed by a period of Chiltern pressure that resulted in the Wallingford fly half trying to clear the danger after a scrum, only for Mike Sanford to charge his kick down and pop a pass off the floor to Scott Jarrold who changed direction just in time to avoid a tap tackle and scamper in for the try. 8-0. The conversion from Luke Johnson struck the post.
Wallingford rallied themselves after this and fought their way into the Saxons 22, where they were awarded a penalty, which they opted to kick. 8-3. This penalty was then followed up with a try and a conversion attempt which, luckily, struck the crossbar and bounced out. 8-8.
The Saxons knew that a win here would put them in with a strong chance of topping the division they had just been promoted to, and were determined to try and grab the points at the death. For the final few minutes, they piled on the pressure and should possibly have been awarded a penalty for Wallingford killing the ball at the ruck, but instead of the whistle signalling this, it was for full-time.
I am not sure who was man of the match, but special mentions should go to Tom Fletcher for ferocious tackling throughout. Also, Teddy Bear, a young colt playing his first game for the Saxons, who looked assured at scrum half and like he’ll be a regular senior player in the years to come.
Luke Donnebaum - 14.2.0
vs Henley Wanderers
Seeing as I can't get to work this morning, I though I might crack on with the old match report the only problem being that my recollection of the game is rather vague! So instead of the usual blow by blow synopsis you will have to make do with a summary and some points I can remember! The Team was (and to borrow a theme form the thirds we also made up some nick names) 1 Ben Murrey (teen spirit) 2 Charlie Wilton (H(hyperactive(it's Ironic you see))) 3 Gareth Bourne (Identity) 4 Colm Gilhouly (liability) 5 Pete Gibson (Gibbo) 6 Mike Sanford (silent Assasin) 7 Duncan Price (Penalty price) 8 Jorrit Schrauwers (Yogi aka Nick Rastelli) 9 Paul Sitzburger (sitzy) 10 Rob Smally (Biggy) 11 Luke Johnson (ti chi)12 Lewis Culverhouse (fluffer)13 James Cope (T.O.G (teacher of Geography)) 14 Chris Wright (beanie) 15 Tom Fletcher (skippy) 16 Luke Donnebaum (Jason) 17 Will Howe (come he kept turning up in the centers) 18 Liam Gilhouly (lightning)
This game proves how competative this league is, Henley are bottom of the league but last week managed to stick 60 points on Bracknell, so we had to be on form if we were going to beat them and maintain pressure on Wallingford at the top of the league. The game started slowly for Chiltern, Henley certainly had the up hand in the first few exchanges and althought they were not the biggest side the certainly ran hard, the chiltern tackling also left something to be desired, the heart and intensity was there but everyone was going in too high enabling Henley to make good ground. Now people will probably dispute the order of events and I appologies for that! Chiltern started to put pressure on and with some good strong running from Ben, Gibbo and Yogi managed to get right under the post unfortunately Yogi knocked on trying to run an amber 9 but the pack let him attone for his error straight away by winning the insuing scrum agaisnt the head which Yogi scooped up and dotted down under the posts. Henley came back strongly from the kick off and Chiltern conceeded a penalty which narrowly missed the posts but Chiltern made the school boy error of letting the ball bounce and as a result a henley back raced in and scored. Almost straight form the Kick off chiltern were on the attack and some great interplay between the pack and a good strong running from Luke, cutting in off his wing and smashing through a bunch of forwards saw a ruck set up about 5 meters from the Henley line, both colm and Duncan went close before yogi eventually forced his way over the white wash. Henleys second try came from an Garyowen from their full back which again Chiltern allowed to bounce and their 14 gathered and raced through for the try. Now even my redamentry math skill tell me that those scores do not add up to 17-22 at half time so I am going to say Sitzy kick some important penaltys and keeping our noses in front (I won't mention the one that hit the post from directly in front)
The half time chat consisted of making sure our tackles were lower and we had to cut out the penalties. Now the second half is even hazier than the first! Here is a quick summary! Henley didn't score! After some good work at the back of the scrum Luke Donnebaum went over, Tom Fletcher (just) out ran Henleys full back to go in under the posts and Liam hit his after burners and raced around the outside of his opposite number to jot down. The most pleasing aspect of the second half was the commitment in the tackle area and the number of turnovers we achieved. There is still some work to do on ball presentation but we are certainly getting there! A rest for us next week as it is a cup weekend. Thank you for all who came to watch our supporters definately outnumbered theirs see you next time. Also thank you to henley who played their part in an entertaining game and we struggle to see how they are bottom of the league!
P.S sorry again if you scored and I haven't put your name down please let me know and I will amend!
A Battle of attrition Weedon Lane
The Saxons came into this game looking to uphold a home record that hasn't seen them lose at home since 2007. Windsor were 2 points behind us in the league and had beaten us in our previous meeting so we knew that to maintain our record we would have to put our bodies on the line and play out of our skins. The team for the day was Ben Murray, Charlie Winton and Matt Wall in the front row, Colm Gilhooly and Pete Gibson in the engine room, the back row was Luke Donavan (blame matt for that lukey!) Petrus Schrauwers and Duncan Price. With Sitzy called into the first team Captain Tom Fletcher stepped in at 9 David Neal slotted in at 10 With Mike Pererra and Scott Jarrold in the centres, the back 3 was full of pace with James Carty and Luke on the wings and Liam Gilhooly slotting in at full back. The subs were Tristan Harper, Gareth Bourne and Mike Buckler
There were some doubts as to whether the game would be on at all as the pitch still had bits of ice on it during the warm up as well as some standing water, but with the sun beating down on it this cleared before the kick off.
Both sides were certainly very up for this game, right from the kick off there was strong running from both sides, the Windsor prop had a few good runs but was halted on each occasion by some good tackling, about 10 minutes in the Saxons suffered a set back when Mike Pererra got his foot trapped in the bottom of a mall and had to leave the pitch (that boy has no luck!!) Tristan replaced him at inside centre. Chiltern had the better of the first half when it came to try scoring chances and possesion but were hampered by some strong back row play by Windsor who swarmed on the ball everytime a Chiltern player was tackled.(a training point here we need to learn to go to deck on our terms and fall the right way once we are down.) Chiltern had two gilt edge chances in the first half, some good rucking lead to quick ball and some good play by David at 10 created a 2 on 1 down the left wing unfortunately the ball was knocked on and when the saxons made an almost identical break the ball was thrown (marginally) forward. The Lineout functioned well again, the scrum was a bit of a mixed bag as whoever got the nudge on had controle of the scrum due to the muddy conditions under foot. After much huffing and puffing from both sides the first half finished 0-0.
The second half continued in much the same vane, both sides looking for an opening, but good co-ordinated defense from Dave, Tristan and Scott kept the Windsor back line at bay, whilst at times it looked like Chiltern would get around the Windsor back line, the Windsor back row covered across well and kept us out. The break threw finally came about 10mins into the half James Carty gathered the ball and set of on a maizy run stepping no less than 3 Windsor defenders before being hauled down, a few drive and rucks later Captain Tom popped up on the blind side and bundled his way over, the conversion from out wide on a very muddy surface was missed. It was difficult to pick out anyone of note for the rest of the half (mainly because everyone was caked in mud!!) Gareth Replaced Ben in the front row and Shakira came on for James. Then came the match defining moment, with 10mins to go and Chiltern applying a lot of presure, Chiltern were awarded a penalty about 10meters out and bang infront of the posts, the correct call would have been to kick the points and pull us 2 scores clear but the decission was made to tap and go and Chiltern were held up just short of the line. A few rucks later and Chiltern did get the ball across the whitewash but the ref said the final pass was forward so it wasn't given. This seemed to give Windsor a lift and they came back strongly and in the final minute despite some great last ditch defense form the like of Tristan Luke and Liam the numbers finally ran out and in the last minute Windsor scored in the corner, the conversion attempt was (just) missed and there was just enough time for the restart before the ref blew the final whistle.
So still undeafeted at home but I hope we have learned that (as Mikey G always says) points make prizes, on the balance of things a fair result and prof if prof be needed that this league is wide open! Next week away to Henly lets learn from this weekend put it behind us and move on.
Yogi - 24.1.09
vs Marlow
After what seemed like the longest winter break ever the seconds played their first game of the year. In the home fixture we only managed to win by 5 points so we were under no illusion that this would be a hard fought game. The Team for the day was a front row of, Will Howe, Ben and Lloydy (back from his travels) in the engine room Gibbo and Colm, a back row of Duncan Price, Tim Bond and Yogi, Half backs were Paul sitzberger and Ross Bugden, Ali Bruce and Scott Jarrold in the centres, James Carty and Luke on the wings and Captain courageous Tom Fletcher at full back. With Tristan and Shakira chomping at the bit on the bench.
The first half started well for Chiltern with no obvious signs of an extended lay off. The line out functioned well and there some strong runs from Tim, Ali and Yogi. Chiltern were camped in the Marlow half and the pressure in the end told with James cutting a fine line in from the wing and going in under the posts. Chiltern scored another try through Ali inside this period of dominance as well as Ross adding 3 points with the boot from a mid field penalty. Marlow seemed content to kick all their possession away and this was bread and butter for the back 3 Tom looking especially composed under the high ball and alls running the ball back well. After about 25mins the festive period seemed to catch up with everyone as the game fizzled out up to the half time whistle, although Marlow did come back into the game a bit by keeping the ball in hand for a while. The only thing of note being an injury to Tim after another barnstorming run, he struggled on till half time and was replace by Tristan.
The second half started much like the first with Chiltern in the ascendancy the scrum was working well and we were solid on our own ball and disrupting theirs as well. Some slick hands in the backs and another defender bouncing run from Ali saw him go over under the posts Ross added the 2 points, from the kick off Tristan introduced himself to the game and carried on where Tim had left off with a great take from the restart and a brilliant jinking run all the way into the Marlow 22, a couple of malls later Tristan broke from the side and assisted by Ben drove over for the try (Ben was that close to him I believe they are officially dating now!) At this point Chiltern took their foot of the peddle as a combination of lack of match fitness, a feeling that the game was won and a rally by Marlow saw Shakira (who was on for Luke) concede a penalty for holding on (it must be said he had too hold on as the defence was very slow getting back) which was quickly taken and Marlow's winger just about got the ball on the line, this sparked Chiltern back into life and they were immediately on the attack although a lack of composure and not taking the outside when given the opportunity, caused a couple of trys to go begging. The next try came from a chiltern attacking scrum half way inside the Marlow half, the scrum was solid as it had been all game and the backs flooded the blind channel, a good pick up and pass from Sitzy saw Ross jink his was through a couple of tackles and plough a furrow as he flopped in for the try. Again Chiltern fell asleep and Marlow crossed for their second and their wingers second try of the game it came from a simple line out move, they smashed it up the centres and rewound had an overlap which they converted well. The Final try came as a result of a Marlow defensive scrum on their own 5 meter line, the now dominant chiltern pack pushed Marlow off the ball and the ball wass controlled well at the back of the scrum until a Marlow player tackled Yogi and the ball popped free, Duncan re-acted quickest and dived over for a good forwards try. My man of the match is actually a men of the match and goes to the tight 5, who stole ball in the lineout all day and rucked and drove their socks off.
There was a strange feeling after the game Chiltern were very happy with the victory but dissappointed to have not put the game to bed earlier and that a number of opportunities were not converted and we let in a couple of easy trys. With Wallingford losing on the weekend it blows this league right open and we have a tough game against Windsor next week who lie just below us in 3rd.
All in all a good start to the year and something to build on.
Yogi - 19/01/09
vs Chinnor
On a day when the temperature seemed determined to stay below 3C Amersham II took to the pitch to take on a Chinnor side lying 2 places and 1 point above us in the league. The team for the day was 1 Dave Orme 2 Felix Stankard 3 George Shanks 4 Pencil 5 Matt Wall 6 Duncan 7 Geoff 8 Yogi 9 Tom Fletcher (capt) 10 Russ Bugden 11 James (very quick sorry don't know your surname) 12 Dave Neal 13 Ali Bruce 14 Scott Jarrold 15 Dom (fly boy) daly and on the bench making a welcome return after a string of injuries Mike 'PP' Perriera and Rich (you know the one with the bolt in his hand!)
Despite the chilli weather both teams seemed up for the game and Chiltern started strongly, driving well into the Chinnor half. After a couple of rumbles by the forwards quick ball was given to the backs and Dave and Ross interlinked well to put Ross into some space, Ross chose to ignore Yogi (a wise move) and place a perfect miss pass into the hands of Dom, Dom also chose to ignore yogi on his inside shoulder and drew the full back perfectly and passed well to James who lit the after burners and went in in the corner. Ross attempted to remove the head of the ref with his conversion, not aided by the fact he seemed to be wearing boots that were 2 sizes to big for him! Chinnor realised they were in for a game and did not shirk the challenge, they came back well and there young 10 was bringing their slightly rotund 12 into the game well, at one point he managed to break the first up tackle (one of the only ones missed all day) and made inroads into the Chiltern half before being stopped by a good double tackle from Dom and James. Chilterns set piece was working well (despite shouts to the contrary from the touch line, no mate you weren't all over us in the scrums!) with Pencil flying high and Shanksy 'hitting' him. We would have made more of the advantage at the scrum had Geoff been able to get out of the grips of the Chinnor prop who cunningly kept holding him back when yogi broke from the back of the scrum. The second try was almost a mirror of the first with Aly going in and Ross getting closer but still missing the kick. Chinnor finished the half strongly but were kept out by some determined defensive play especially by the pack( I am not a fan of singling people out but pencil and matt really put their bodies on the line!) The last play of the half was a little strange, the ball came lose from a ruck and Chinnor hacked through, the covering Chiltern player fly hacked the ball out of touch and the Chinnor players re-acted quickest (despite some delaying tactics from Chiltern) threw the ball in quickly and dived over the line, lucky for Chiltern the ref called it back as the Chinnor player had thrown the ball in from inside the 5 meter (I must check to see if that rule applies to the new quick throw in) suffice to say the try didn't count and Chiltern managed to clear the resulting line out. It turned out that Aly's injured ankle was not as healed as he hoped and he was replaced before the break by Mike.
Half time 10-0
The second half started with Chinnor on top forcing Chiltern to infringe at a ruck and the Chinnor 10 slotted the resulting penalty 10-3, from here on in it was all Chiltern and Chinnor never really threatened the Chiltern line again, Chilterns tackles were hitting the mark with Felix and Dave making some large smashes, tackle of the day must go to Matt who sliced a Chinnor player in half! Then came the best try of the day, Chiltern got a line out half way in the Chinnor Half, some good quick off the top ball was flung out to Ross who passed and looped Dave received the ball back from Dave and cut out the Chinnor centre with a lovely pass to Dom who raced in untouched for a great looking try, conversion attempt went wide. I must mention Geoff's attempt at becoming Matt Dawson with a great mazy run before lobbing the ball over his head to keep it in play, and Fletch's pick and go from the base of the scrum which fooled the back row on both sides! The final try came from some concerted pressure on the Chinnor line, Chinnor managed to steal the ball and kicked it straight into the hands of acting full back Yogi who ran in back with 'pace' beating a couple of players before being hauled down, quick ruck ball released the back line with Dave Neal going close and popping the ball to Mike who scooped it up of his shoe laces and went in almost under the posts and atoned for being held up over the line earlier in the half. The conversion was successful. Making the final score 22-3 to Chiltern. Man of the Match went to Dave Orme in the front row for his tireless work around the park and excellent execution in the set piece he was a constent thorn in Chinnors side. The Clean shirt award for the day goes to Scott did you even need a shower?
Good game excellent result and bring on Witney! Although we are 5th in the table we are tied on 12 points with the 3 teams above us so this league is wide open.
Yogi - 29.11.08
vs Witney
The seconds travelled up to Witney on Saturday to take on a team a point behind us in the league and with the opportunity to go second in the table with a victory (and a couple of other results going our way!) The team for the day was 1 Dan 'lurch' Pettinger 2 George 'Shanksy' Shanks 3 Dave Orme 4 Colm Gilholy 5 Matt Wall 6 Tim Bond 7 Duncan (don't know sorry) 8 Petrus 'Yogi' Schrauwers 9 Tom 'Fletch' Fletcher (capt) 10 Ross Bugden 11 James carty 12 Dave Neal 13 Ali Bruce 14 Luke Johnson 15 Paul 'sitzy' Sitzberger, and a strong bench consisting of Pete 'Gibo' Gibson Mike 'PP' Perera and Charlie 'The monk' Bond.
With the sun already starting to set Witney got the game underway, a good take and run by Duncan was spoilt by some strong rucking from Witney and perhaps a little bit of the old cliché 'we were still on the bus' the quick turn over ball saw Witney driving at the Chiltern midfield and much like last week Ross Dave and Ali were up to the challenge and tackled well. At this point the game was being played in the middle third with both sides making breaks and tackling back well. By about half way through the half it was obvious that this wasn't going to be a high scoring encounter! After a somewhat shaky start the Chiltern pack were starting to find there feet and were starting to make some inroads with some good driving runs from the back row and in particular Matt crashing the ball in well around the fringes, the backs were also starting to get on their game with both Dave and Ross making clean breaks, although some decision making and the final pass left a bit to be desired on occasions. With about 15min to go in the half Chiltern had a line out just about on half way, a good clean take (the line out functioned well all day against a much taller opposition) and a rumble on and the ball found its way to Yogi who drew the flanker and the 10 and passed to Ross (the passed was almost intercepted for what would have been a certain Witney try!) who span well out of the attempted tackle by the large Witney 13 and head up the field at pace, after a few jinks he found Dave who quickly off loaded to Ali who raced in in the corner for a very good looking try, the conversion attempt was missed. Witney re-acted well to going behind and did up their intensity for the rest of the half. The next thing of note was when Witney fly hacked the ball forward and after some very good chasing from the Witney openside managed to snag Sitzy behind the try line, meaning they would have the put in for a 5 meter scrum right under the posts, their 8 broke from the scrum and although stopped early by Tim he managed to get the ball away to the 7 who although tackled managed to dot the ball down on the line the conversion was a formality. Chiltern reacted the same as Witney had done and were carrying the ball well, unfortunately both Matt and Ross injured themselves carrying the ball up.
HT 7-5
During the break Chiltern were forced into 3 changes with both Matt and Ross unable to continue and Ali having a recurrence of his ankle injury. So Dave dropped into the 10 slot (he didn't moan at all about this, not one word I promise!) PP came on for Ali in the centres, Gibo came on for Ross and Charlie came on for Matt forcing Tim from the Flank into the centre. In the second half the ref came into play a lot, neither Chiltern or Witney could come to terms with his interpretations at the break down and there were a lot of tit for tat penalties, this somewhat broke up the flow of the game. Dave had slotted into the 10 slot well and linked up brilliantly with PP on a couple of occasions. neither side seemed to be able to land the killer blow (maybe because the second half was so stop start) although it was Chiltern who were camped in the Witney half for most of the second half, finally Chiltern were awarded a penalty within kicking range and Sitzy (who had only just missed with an earlier effort from half way) stepped up and slotted the points, 7-8 to chilts. There was some confusion as to how much time remained, I am sure charlie said we still had 25mins to play but in reality there were only about 5 to go. Chiltern played out these last minutes without to much bother although it came as some relief when the ref called last play and the Witney 10 though it best to kick the ball away! At this point Sitzy decided to go on a mazy run beating about 4 players before he took heed of the deafening cries from his 17 team mates to kick the ball out and booted the ball (on the bounce) into touch. Another frosty day another hard fought victory, no game next week as it is a cup weekend but we head into the Christmas period sitting in second place in the league.
Yogi 7.12.08
Weedon Lane - Saturday 8th Novemeber 2008 - Chiltern Saxons 20 Marlow 3rd XV 25
Chiltern Saxons took on local rivals Marlow in their 8th game of the season. Having slipped a few places in the league following last weeks loss to Windsor, the Saxons were eager to get one over on their rivals and move back up the table.
The early morning rain had died off and, thankfully, held off until the game was done. The Saxons started well and put points on the board at the earliest opportunity, with Bugden slotting a penalty over. With the Saxon pack being extremely dominant in the scrum and winning more than their fair share of line-out ball, the back were invited to stretch their legs, an offer the Mike ‘Shakira’ Buckler duly accepted. However, having broken a couple of tackles and reached the try line, he decided he did not fancy scoring today, and offloaded to captain Fletcher to claim the glory. Mike may well have wished he has been slightly more selfish after the game as he was fined a jug for ‘try avoidance’. Bugden converted. Shortly before half-time, Scott Jarrold managed to break the line and beat a number of players to go over. Unfortunately the conversion was missed.
I believe Marlow slotted a penalty or two in the first half, making the half-time score 15 - 3 or 6!
The second half told a much different tale. The Saxons could only manage another 10 points, all from Bugden, in the form of a try, conversion and another penalty. Despite some good defence, Marlow crept back into the game, making the final score a lot closer than it should have been at 20 - 25. However, the Saxons could easily have ended up losing this game as a Marlow player dropped the ball when clean through. Had they possessed a player capable of kicking, the referee gave Marlow ample opportunity to win the game by penalising Chiltern at every single breakdown for offences such as sneezing, coughing and burping! OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but my ears are still personally ringing from the constant whistle blowing for offences that only the referee could see were taking place.
For the second week in a row at Weedon Lane a nasty clash of head brought a temporary halt to the game. A Marlow player and young winger, James Carty would both require stitches. However, the Marlow player taped up his head and completed the game, but Carty was unable to continue due to the combination of the wound and the fact that, in trying to help, one of the spectators picked up a bottle thinking it was water and squirted it on his face only to find she had just placed deep heat all over his cut!
I’m unsure who was given man of the match, but in my opinion, until his injury, Carty had a solid game. Tristan Harper, a Saxons regular last season, came back to play for the club this week and had an excellent match, putting in a large number of tackles. Next week is a tough test away to Readingensians, who sit on place above us in 3rd, but have scored and conceded an almost identical points tally to ours.
Team: 1. Bobbett 2. Stankard 3. Shanks 4. Bourne 5. Gibson 6. Donnebaum 7. Harper 8. Wall 9. Sitzberger 10. Bugden 11. Buckler 12. Jarrold 13. Wright 14. Carty 15. Fletcher (capt) Subs: Turner, Gilhooly
Luke Donnebaum 11.11.08
vs Henley Wanderers
After a disappointing result against Wallingford and a week without a game, the Saxons were back at Weedon Lane holding host to bottom of the table Henley Wanderers. Despite being bottom on -1 points, Henley’s results so far suggested they would be no pushovers, but the Saxons were determined to get back to winning ways.
The Saxons opted to utilise the wind in the first half and received the kick off. Despite the swirling wind, the Saxons back line put together some good moves with the ball being well-presented by the pack. With ‘wonder kid’ Smalley pulling the strings from 10, the backs were finding space to run into and it wasn’t long before Smalley spotted a gap and took his chance to cross the line for the first try of the game. Paul Sitzburger ably slotted the conversion for a 7-0 lead to the Saxons. With the wind in their faces, Henley were struggling to make it out of their half, but the pressure wasn’t being converted into points. Despite a strong pack, the Saxons were struggling in the scrum, although it could be argued that there may have been a spot of deliberate wheeling from the Henley forwards which the ref failed to penalise. Henley’s inability to clear their lines eventually cost them when number 8, Ed Buller, charged over. The conversion was missed making the score 12-0. This was the way it stayed until half-time, although Scott Jarrold could have grabbed another, but dropped the ball before the line, claiming he had heard a whistle!
The second half was a little more competitive, with Henley having the wind advantage. However, the closest Henley came to scoring was a period of pressure in which the Saxons defence was put to the test and passed with flying colours, steadily driving them back until an error came and we could clear our lines. Midway through the second half, after some good forward work, Lurch managed to carry himself and a couple of Henley players over the line to make the score 17-0. Paul Sitzburger converted to add the extra 2 points and make it 19-0.
A final period of pressure by the Saxons had Henley back in their 22 again. They managed to steal ball back but heaped more pressure on themselves with poor passing. This culminated in a Henley player picking the ball up beyond his try line and turning to see 4 or 5 Saxon players coming at him, including Michael ‘Shakira’ Buckler who uttered in a deathly whisper “We’re going to kill you’…this was enough to strike the fear of God into the Henley player who, instead of touching the ball down, switched himself into American Football mode and launched a long forward pass, seemingly looking for a non-existent wide receiver!! Luckily, as most of the Saxon players were now in stitches after seeing one of the funniest moments ever seen on a pitch at Weedon Lane, the final whistle was not far away, and the game ended 19-0 to the Saxons.
Special mention goes to Matt Craggs, a Colt playing in the second row, who had gave a fine display. Man of the Match was awarded to Smalley, who commanded the game from 10.
Team: 1. Pettinger 2. Shanks 3. Wall 4. Gibson 5. Craggs 6. Price 7. Isaacs 8. Buller 9. Sitzburger 10. Smalley 11. Buckler 12. Marsh 13. Bruce 14. Jarrold 15. Fletcher (capt.) Subs: 16. Farhi 17. Donnebaum 18. Wright
Luke Donnebaum 25.10.08