Chiltern enjoy a very encouraging start to the new campaign

After a better than expected season in which we managed to beat Brentwood at home but lost heavily away, it was with some trepidation that greeted the first outing of the new campaign. As readers can see from the somewhat unfamiliar squad listed at the end of this report there were many new combinations both from established players but also including several colts who had turned 18 and were able to take their place with the rest of the squad.

Brentwood brought over pretty much their first choice side and overall it was particularly pleasing to see how competitive Chiltern were. The Aylsbury 3G pitch provided an excellent running surface and both sides looked to play an expensive game. The match was played over 3, 30 minute periods with the first 30 comprising the first choice sides from both clubs.

Both sides ran the ball whenever possible but solid defence meant that it was well over 15 minutes of play before the first try was scored. Stuart Pearham attempted to cross kick the ball behind the Brentwood defence but the wind held his kick up and four passes later Brentwood crossed the Chiltern line for the first try which was duly converted. It seemed to make no particular difference to the way Chiltern played and they happily took the ball into contact on a regular basis. They secured good go forward possession and with pressure mounting on the Brentwood defence we saw several penalties go Chiltern’s way and from one of these just inside of the Chiltern half Pearham took a quick tapped penalty and ran straight through the scattered defence to score an excellent try midway out, which he converted himself.
With the score at 7-7 the first period came to an end with Brentwood kicking numerous to the corner but the Chiltern defence was outstanding in repelling all attempts to maul the ball over the try line and the half finished without further score.

The second period saw Brentwood playing with the breeze and although this was not strong it did allow them to set up good field position and with the forwards exercising rather more control a good inter passing move allowed them to cross for their second try which was unconverted. By now Chiltern had made numerous substitutions and most of the 23 man squad had enjoyed an opportunity to show what they could do in front of the spectators and home coaches. With several new young players in the Chiltern back line it was pleasing to see the amount of pace on show both in attack and defending the wide channels. Chiltern were fielding a particularly inexperienced front five, apart from Ollie Cato who had an excellent game, but even when the scrum was under some pressure their ability to secure possession was impressive and to then make significant inroads into the Brentwood defence was particularly pleasing to watch.

With no further scoring the second period came to an end and as the teams turned round for the last time both sides took the opportunity of bringing back most of their first choice players for the final encounter. Rather surprisingly Chiltern looked the fitter of the two sides and they enjoyed much the better of the final period outscoring Brentwood by two tries to nil. The first of these was a long-range effort which followed Michael Brothers fielding a long kick from the Brentwood 10 close to the far touchline. He neatly chipped over the oncoming winger’s head recaught the ball and set off at pace beating several defenders on the outside before clever inter passing with Ross Gladdish and captain Ryan Cole resulted in a try for Cole wide out on the right. Pearham converted beautifully and Chiltern were leading 14-12. Try as they might Brentwood could not find a way through the Chiltern defence and a long raking kick was this time kept in play cleverly by Gladdish who passed inside to Brothers who this time passed the ball to centre David John who enjoyed an excellent game throughout. John made a scything break and with the Brentwood full-back coming across to cover held him up beautifully before passing out to Gladdish who had run through from deep to take the ball at speed and dive over for Chiltern’s third drive which was again converted by Pearham.

The game finished shortly afterwards with a very satisfying 21-12 advantage to children. Clearly it was a slightly unreal situation with three periods played but overall the result was probably better than might of been expected and certainly gave the coaches and spectators much hope for a good campaign. There were numerous players worthy of mention but perhaps the most pleasing aspect was so many returning players who had finished their university studies together with the young colts blending in well with some the recruits.

The only disappointing thing that occurred was the unfortunate injury after 10 minutes to centre Dave Francis whose badly twisted knee will require an operation and although the extent of the damage is not yet fully known, nevertheless it will certainly mean several months on the sidelines which will be hugely disappointing for such a dynamic and popular player.
This coming Saturday, 25 August will see the second of the preseason friendlies this time against local rivals Beaconsfield who were promoted to the same level as Chiltern after winning their league last season. This will take place at Weedon Lane and kickoff will be at 3.00pm. Please do come and watch what looks like an exciting side endeavour to continue the form they showed against Brentwood.

Squad:
Ryan Cole, Joe Batt, Dale Brimble, Michael Brothers, Ollie Cato, Jacob Dolan, Josh Finch, Dave Francis, Ross Gladdish, Scott Kilbey, Dan Kingsley, Danny Newlands, Arnie Patskocimas, Stuart Pearham, Ben Pothercary, Jonny Reyes, Cairo Sango, Jordan Scott, Dave Stredwick, Charlie Swerling, Callum Verall, Giles Westgarth, Criag Whyte