The old adage practice makes perfect…a philosophy which underpins most great sports teams. Well, this is certainly not the case for the 2XV who once again mastered the art of not expending any energy & talent in the warm-up & saving this for the game as they welcomed Oxford Harlequins to Weedon Lane.

Despite a cagey opening spell, Chiltern began to exert their control with dominance in the pack & great tactical kicking from Ben Pothecary & Alex Bower. The latter producing a fine solo effort ripping the ball from an Oxford Harlequins forward & running in from just inside their half. Conversion kicked perfectly by Max Dugdale for a 7-0 Chiltern lead. Despite Chiltern’s control over the game, Oxford Harlequins scored a brilliant solo try to level the scores at 7-7, before Alex Hart powered over, celebrating like a man who had just scored a last minute winner (more of that later). The kick again judged well by Dugdale to give Chiltern a 14-7 lead.

Not content with their woeful warm-up, Chiltern switched off in the final 5 minutes before half-time, with a combination of ill-discipline & soft defence, conceding two tries in quick succession. Despite having more of the ball, Chiltern found themselves 19-14 down at half-time.

The half-time Churchillian speech sadly fell upon deaf ears, with Chiltern quickly conceding another try from a kick behind the defence which evaded the back 3 on a greasy surface. Oxford Harlequins adjudged to have touched down first in the corner, extending their lead to 24-14. Chiltern however didn’t let their heads down & after some fine forward work, Alex Bower cut a brilliant line to score in-front of his "personal fan club" to bring Chiltern back to 24-21.

Surely now was when Chiltern would turn the screw….oh no….Chiltern proceeded to mess up their exit from the resulting kick-off & soon found themselves huddled under the posts again scratching their heads at what now seemed a worrying 2 score lead with lead with just 10 minutes to go (21-29)

Let the chaos begin…..Chiltern sticking to their “Joue, Joue, Joue” philosophy began to run Oxford Harlequins around the pitch, with a young squad giving everything all over the park to turn the deficit over. Ben Pothecary noticing a gap behind the opposition defence, kicked perfectly for Ed Wainwright to show his football skills….running down the wing & scoring in the corner taking a blow to the head in the process. Emotions running high & over-spilling, a change of captaincy was then deemed the best route forward with Vice, Johnny Rice taking the reins.

The change in leadership proved a masterstroke, with Johnny leading the boys to an unlikely win with Alex Bower (yes…again) scoring a brilliant try after multiple phases in the 79th minute to give Chiltern a 33-29 lead. A full 18-man squad bundle in front of the fans, with cheers echoing across Bucks ensuing when he touched down will be a hard highlight to beat across the remainder of the year.

Chiltern though still had to reclaim the re-start & get the ball off..... Now anyone who has watched Chiltern over the years knows Oxford Harlequins were still well in the game…..Oxford Harlequins through everything at the ruck to turn the ball over & Chiltern were awarded a penalty for them going off their feet. And so surely that was that…job done…? No..... Max Dugdale still had to kick the ball of the pitch. In doing so, he managed to get cramp, nearly kicking the ball to the opposition winger, but nonetheless the ball went dead & the game was WON!!!

This was a hugely impressive win from a young team 2 scores down with very little time remaining against a physical & well coached Oxford Harlequins side. This means Chiltern have now won who 4 out of their 5 league games so far with Try bonus points in all the wins.

Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know…..but come down to watch the boys go again, with Vice, Rice Baby at the helm looking to lead the boys to another victory in a top of the table clash against Reading on Saturday.

Team v Oxford Harlequins: Alex Bear (Travelling back from Uni), David Cole, Harry Pollard, Dale Brimble, Johnny Rice, Ben Rooke (Travelled back from Uni), Harry West, Alex Hart, Max Dugdale, Alex Bower, Ed Wainwright, Ben Pothecary, Gavin Thompson, Rob Hill, Louis Hughes, Will Swerling, Gus Knott & Colville Wood