Match Report – by Andrew Grant
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Do you know I shared the very same optimism as many others that the rugby team I support would have won on Saturday. I didn’t though have to make the trek to Twickenham, down many a Guinness and mix closely with my Celtic brethren (Derek was there). I had Guinness on tap at Ash Grove, and an Amersham team full of optimism and desire. A&C were ready to win, with home advantage against a Sudbury side that had previously nilled us at their place. With Scotland impressive of course in Rome (never in doubt) I was never going to blink in securing a double and having a winning grin for the rest of the day.
Sudbury arrived in very good time all the way from the land of Gainsborough. A young side like ours, now 2nd in the league and going head to head with Cambridgeshire rivals Shelford RFC. There were rumbles that they had players attending a ‘big white wedding’, but that all their forwards were here and ready for the battle. I recalled their forwards very good and did most of the damage previously. Just our luck! – The wrong ones had gone.

Now for the rugby – Referee was Zach a young and apparently up and coming and award winning referee who had travelled all the way from Hampshire. Welcomed with lashings of Lucozade and a chocolate treat and with a changing room all to himself.
It only took 6mins for Sudbury to confidently advance with a forward led opening converted try (0-7). They looked good, great tempo, especially after sitting on the bus for so long. However even at the start this was going to be a match you could not really take your eyes off as the mighty Jordan Scott rampaged from the back of the scrum to reply on 12 mins with an unconverted try (5 – 7). Both sides had already bedded in with some hard-hitting tackling and expansive passes and it wasn’t long until our play maker at Centre Noah Jarvis navigated the gaps well to surge over for another unconverted try (10 – 7). It continued to be end to end stuff and hugely engaging. We actually got to the point that if you’d blinked you would have missed a yellow card. Sudbury livened it up on 29mins with an unconverted try following a decent wing break (10-12) and all to play for.
On 35 mins and after some more sustained pressure on the Amersham line there was some apparent naughtiness at the breakdown and crowd favourite Alex Bower was despatched to the cooler for a reason still u/k. The betting man says he was in fact entirely innocent and that he had been wrongly identified. I suspect we will never know the secret of the yellow card box. Just to add some more challenge and spice to proceedings the mighty Louis Bailey got into a wee bit of bother with the rules and he too was despatched to the Cooler. He didn’t talk back. I think it was off-side. With 2 off for 10 mins we may have to get a bench pitch side in future. Unsurprisingly and down to 13 Sudbury had little difficulty in then securing a penalty try after easy pressure on our line (Half time 10 – 19).
With 13 men and the wind in our faces that was a decent first half performance by Amersham. Would the wind be in our sails second half? Early signs not good as forgetting the 2 man advantage Sudbury again found it straightforward to score a converted try (10 -26). Sudbury then again benefited from Jordan Scott being red-carded for striking an opposition player in the scrum. I suppose that comes under the heading ‘argy bargy’- a term still used amongst rugby players past and present alongside dark arts etc. Regardless 2 yellows and a red and I thought we might as well give up and just play everyone’s favourite game ‘Connect 4 ‘.
Now, and with no blinking whatsoever there was a bit of a sea change. A bit of a parting of the Red Sea, a bit of a Eureka moment? Hard to describe but considering that it was hard fought, a wee bit niggly but very competitive it was now the case on 54 mins that Sudbury would be required to rest some players through the traditional yellow card route. Again it was technical stuff – offside? And off he went with a cumpity clump. It’s a credit to both teams that the game remained entertaining as players came and went. Sudbury though had the break again and on 60 mins punished us again with an unconverted try (10 -31)
With both sides adjusting so much and with quite a gap having opened up Noah fired up and alongside his team mates Chiltern responded and the Red Sea well and truly parted. Steaming in first was Craig Whyte, newly on as a sub and breezed over the line with some slick side stepping and hopping. Alex Bower converted (17 -31). Only a minute later it was Robert Hughes, a centre thorough-bread who ripped through a static Sudbury defence to score an unconverted try (22 -31). Goosebump moment
With another Sudbury player being yellow carded (high tackle) on 76 mins the scene was set for the miracle in Ash Grove. More Amersham pressure until Sudbury valiantly cleared their lines, a kick into the corner and gift of a lineout throw direct to their try scorer. A cruel end to a tremendous fightback and most amazing game of rugby. Final score (22 – 36)

Highlights
• Spirited and tenacious performance against a stylish and confident Sudbury side
• Andrew Toole at prop with a body so bendy you have to see it to believe it.
• Andrew Toole and fellow Scot (formerly Cartha Queens Park RFC) voted man of the Match. He was everywhere.
• Getting both Jason and Scott Kilbey on the pitch at the same time. Along with the Hughes brothers can be very effective.
• Captain Josh with patience and passion orchestrating a fantastic come back, whilst managing referee relations following player depletion. ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word’

Next Week
We have a rest for a couple of weeks before entering the final stage of the season. On 26th March we return with an away match against struggling Leighton Buzzard. No coach for that one although all supporters more than welcome.

Amersham and Chiltern RFC (1XV)
1. Louis Bailey
2. Andrew Toole
3. Charlie Doyle
4. Kieran Booth
5. Jacques O’Driscoll
6. Jason Kilbey
7. Josh Finch (Captain Josh)
8. Jordan Scott
9. Conor Segre
10. Alex Bower
11. Peter Hughes
12. Noah Jarvis
13. Robert Hughes
14. Mackenzie South
15. Ben Pothecary
16. Will Drewett
17. Scott Kilbey
18. Craig Whyte