Disappointing end to historic season for Amersham & Chiltern

Unfortunately, the match was played on a rather sub-standard pitch, with a marked slope end to end, uneven ground and overlong grass. This together with an afternoon of gusty wind and frequent squally showers, it all conspired to prevent the visitors from playing the fast open game that has been a feature of their play in recent weeks.

Chiltern also had five enforced changes from their last game, three in the backs at fly-half, centre and wing, which inevitably caused a certain lack of cohesion. The usual rock-solid defence was missing on occasions, allowing the home side’s big centres to blast through over the gain line. Loss of discipline in the second half also contributed to the visitor’s defeat, a thirteen man Chiltern giving away two soft tries in the third quarter.

The visitors, playing with the wind and the slope in the first half, should have dominated, but it was not to be. The home side pressured from the start and were awarded a penalty for a 3-0 lead and, soon after, a break through the centre followed by several phases led to a try near the posts, converted, to extend the lead to 10-0. After 26 minutes played, a lineout on the visitor’s 10 metre line was well taken by Old Pats and a solid drive and move along the backs led to another try wide out on the right. The conversion was missed but the lead extended even further to 15-0.

The rather shocked visitors then raised their game and several good phases of play led to a try near the posts for No.8 Tom Blackburn, converted by Jack Kenyon, closing the gap to 15-7. They could have scored again soon after following a great run by centre Dave John, but unfortunately he put his foot in a pothole just before the line, bringing him down and the ball was cleared. Kenyon did manage a penalty kick just prior to half time, reducing the lead to only 15-10 and with the visitors still in the game.

The second half started disastrously for the visitors, however, with first Tom Blackburn sin-binned at a ruck after 45 minutes and then prop Garret Doman-Cann, red-carded for a head butt soon after. The home side took full advantage of the numerical superiority and first stretched the defence for a try in the right hand corner, superbly converted for a 22-10 lead and then a solo effort by their fly-half James Butler, following a successful line-out catch, allowed him to run in under the posts virtually unopposed, converted and the lead now 29-10.

The visitors did produce a flourish towards the end, with full-back Chris Jack causing all sorts of problems to the defence, leading to a try for debutant winger Michael Brothers, unconverted, but narrowing the lead to 29-15 and the match ended with them pressing hard for the home side’s line. It was, however, sadly, a case of too little too late.

So Amersham ended the season in fifth place in the league, the highest position in the club’s history and they will take some satisfaction from that despite their poor showing in this match. Old Patesians avoided relegation, so they would have, no doubt, been celebrating well into the night.

Match report by Andy Gillanders