Pinner Pinner Chicken Dinner

Match Report by Doug Smith

Chiltern welcomed Pinner & Grammarians to Weedon Lane, particularly welcoming was David Crimp (Team Manager) who used to play for our match day rivals in his youth, and the welcome extended to a jolly lunch with the Pinner President and accompanying Committee members. The friendly lunch banter presumably evaporated soon after the Pinner President ran on to the pitch to celebrate Pinner's early penalty try but more of that in a minute.
The 3XV 'shopping list' published on the Friday night detailed the 'must gets' for match day and included in that list was a ban on players from talking about how cold it was going to be. This didn't last long as it was indeed paralysis-inducingly cold and the warm-up was curtailed prematurely to gain some final heat before kick off in the changing rooms.
Mark Yeomans was refereeing our 3XV league fixture for the 3rd time this season for which he apologised for during the pre-match ref chat , but I think he secretly likes our 3XV scraps on a Saturday afternoon. It was a good toss to win and Chiltern started with an arctic wind behind them but it was Pinner who scored first. It should have been Chiltern though after returning Chiltern legend Gareth Dunsmore looked like he was in for the first score only to lose his footing at the last moment. Pinner took advantage going the length of the pitch to touch down. A penalty try was awarded for some unconventional prevention tactics in the 22, no conversion necessary as Lewis Culverhouse pleaded the case for a knock on in the build up, with an unsympathetic Mark Yeomans waving him away. The Pinner President was clearly excited by the prospect of a great win and ran on to the pitch to fist pump the players, or was it that jolly lunch taking hold?
This early blow didn't sap the spirit of the 3s however, there was a certain amount of confidence within the team that we could comeback. And the reason for that was the number of past Club legends that had turned out. Dunsmore and Kinsey re-uniting at 9 and 10, Neil Aves starting in the second row with a returning Oli Cato , Coles and Porter in the backrow , LC 12 in the centres again since he bulked up and the return of Sam Bugden not seen on a pitch since the days of the glorious 4s. This really was a great team of Chiltern Clubmen sprinkled with the next generation of Clubmen, Harri Doyle and Mark Sharington in particular have been making their mark on 3rd team Rugby this season. The 3s also had their usual representation from our contingent of minis coaches that play for the 3s week in week out , Treloar, Hall and Wilson with Junior Chairman Yarroll all turning out again this week. And finally as a last addition to the bench our bear of a player-coach Gibo who couldn't resist throwing his name in to the mix despite carrying a touch Rugby injury from the summer (And the fact that he's 50 now).
The scrums and the lineouts were keenly contested and from a set piece perspective the final score didn't do Pinner justice. It was in the backs where Chiltern ripped Pinner to shreds with Oli Hall scoring 4 tries at outside centre, each one a jinking evasive running line that Pinner had no answer to. The forwards chipped in with a couple of tries as well and Oli Cato barged over from 5 yards out after a period of sustained pressure in the Pinner 22. Harri Doyle also went over for a great try after agreeing to try out Hooker for the first time. His throwing in the lineout defied his inexperience in this position and he was fearless in the scrums too, this could be the greatest positional change in the 3XV since Mike Whitty decided he was too 'big' for Fullback and switched to Prop.
It was a good natured match with the exception of one little bout of fisticuffs involving none other than Oli Cato, receiving a yellow card and taking a 10 minute breather on 60 minutes.
Plenty of skill on display from both teams and a great advert for 3XV Rugby, but also plenty of mistakes to keep the forwards interested with lots of scrums. Man of the match was Pete Porter who put in his usual robust display from number 8 after partying till 3 in the morning the night before celebrating his 50th Birthday.
The highlight of the day was the hot showers afterwards followed by Derek's special Chicken Curry Dinner , Winner WInner.