21 heroes on the South Coast

With unavailability and a couple of late injuries, Chiltern put a youthful team out, with 18 year olds Callum Reid-Jones and Ryan Greenstreet making their second appearances of the season. Both distinguished themselves with mature and brave performances and were right at the fore in the opening minutes; Reid-Jones turned over the kickoff catch by Chichester and Greenstreet put in a massive hit on his opposite number on the first time the hosts ran the ball.

Chiltern looked razor sharp from the off, relishing the ideal conditions on a bright Spring afternoon, and after an early penalty for Chichester on 10 minutes Sam Portland crashed through the gain line to feed Ollie Cato for a barnstorming run. From the second phase deft hands from Morgan Thompson fed No.8 George Bartlett to sprint in for our opening try. Chichester came back on 17 minutes with a try from a rolling maul for a scoreline of 8-5 to the hosts with a quarter of the match gone.

Tony Machedo was held up inches short of the line as the team responded to the excellent probing and distribution from fly half Joe Butler, who mixed aggression with control and kept Chiltern on the front foot. They were rewarded with another George Bartlett try after 34 minutes when Jonny Hughes broke through to set Bartlett up from 25 metres, which Morgan Thompson converted. The Chiltern pressure and territorial advantage continued and with lock Dean MacLennan and Callum Reid-Jones forcing a penalty as the half closed, Morgan Thompson slotted home for a deserved 8-15 lead to Chiltern at half time.

The Chiltern intensity was typified by a double tackle and turnover from wing Matt Gilbert just before half time, and the same player catching and clearing a dangerous kick into his 22, surrounded y a swarm of Chichester backs as the second half got underway. Lewis Edwards and Perez Jack came on for Matt Allen and Ollie Cato at half time, both immediately making their mark. Chiltern’s discipline was superb when Ollie Cato was singled out for some rough treatment and Morgan Thompson was stamped upon by a home side becoming repeatedly repelled and desperate.

After an early Chiltern penalty from Morgan Thompson, he received a yellow card for chirping once too often in the ref’s ear. Chichester used their man advantage wisely and drove over for a converted try in the centre to narrow the score to 15-18. Again, the extra man counted, as the hosts scored a second converted try of the half after sustained heroic defence from Chiltern for a score of 22-18. Matt Allen arrived back on the pitch and announced his return with the hit of the season driving back the hosts No.7 for tight head Joe Winpenny to steal the ball at the breakdown.

As Morgan Thompson returned, Chiltern spent the last quarter deep in the home half, and a series of penalties from the home team led to a yellow card for their centre with two minutes to go as Joe Butler, Sam Portland and Jonny Hughes battered the line. Jonny Hughes and Tony Machedo were both held up over the line by a determined home defence which wouldn’t yield.

Then, a moment of calm inspiration from excellent captain Zane Turner who opened a gap in midfield, making the most of our numerical advantage, and fed full back Chris Jack who made no mistake from 10 metres out for a very deserved try, which Morgan Thompson converted with the last kick of the match and a final score of 22-25.

Head coach Richie Williams and forwards coach Peter Gibson will have been very proud of the commitment, accuracy and courage shown by the team for the whole 80 minutes, which sets us up nicely for the last few games of the season.

If Amersham & Chiltern win all three, we will be safe; and we have our next test against high flying Barnes, the form team in the league, at Weedon Lane this Saturday in front of what will be our biggest crowd of the season for the annual President’s Luncheon which is always a gay affair.

Match report by Spike Stevens

PS: check out the opposition's match report as below; it's quite complimentary.