Author: Sonja Francis

GIVEN that for much of last season the race for the Division One East title was between Thame and Wokingham and Emmbrook, it was perhaps not surprising that the rivalry continued in to this first Premier Division clash between the sides.

Whilst Thame ran out 2-1 winners, the score line belies their dominance of a fiery match.

Playing down the slope in the first half, United immediately had their opponents on the back foot and took the lead within the first ten minutes. Striker James Faulkner ran on to a through ball and from a tight angle hit an unstoppable drive low in to the bottom corner of the goal. With Wokingham finding it difficult to get out of their own half, and placing too much reliance on long balls down the centre of the field, Thame pressed for a second and after good wing play from Man of the Match Ben Connelly, Faulkner was presented with two good chances to extend the lead, seeing a shot and a header just miss the target.

As it was, Thame could not extend their lead for the remainder of the first half and were anticipating a difficult second half as their opponents had the advantage of playing down the slope. However, whilst Wokingham began to see more of the ball, the final pass lacked penetration and frustration started to set in, with a number of dangerous tackles going unpunished by the officials. With quarter of an hour gone Thame won a corner that Stuart Barr delivered from the right and on to the head of Mitchell Meredith whose powerful effort was seemingly goal bound until it struck Alex Stewart on the goal line and went over for a goal kick. However, Thame only had to wait another five minutes before extending their lead. Another Barr corner from the right was cleared to the edge of the box where skipper James Saulsbury hit a sweet volley in to the corner of the net.

It was no more than Thame deserved and five minutes later, Faulkner had the ball in the back of the net again as he finished confidently from the edge of the box. Unfortunately for the travelling contingent from Thame, Faulkner was ruled off-side although even the partisan home crowd accepted the decision was somewhat dubious. Things went from bad to worse for Faulkner as shortly afterwards, and having run the Wokingham skipper, Shaun Wanklyn ragged all evening, he was sent from the field of play for a second yellow card ? reacting to a wreckless ?chop? from Wanklyn that the official somehow managed to miss.

Even down to ten men, United were comfortable in defence, and it tells a story when Thame keeper Milan Barisic was not called in to action until the 85th minute, doing well to block a shot from the edge of the six yard box. Wokingham did score a late consolation goal with 30 seconds left when Tom Hopper met a corner from the right but by then Thame had more than done enough to take the three points and move up to ninth in the league.

Thame United: Barisic, Newell, Pykett, Rhodes, Saulsbury, Meredith, Hayes, Connelly, Stewart, Faulkner, Barr.

Jake Collings

TWO Rugby Camps for youngsters are planned for the Easter holidays at Chinnor RFC, based in Thame.

1) Easter Rugby Camp 12th ? 14th April 2011 – This camp is a fun and safe environment aimed for either club players wanting to learn new skills or new players wanting an introduction to rugby. Players need to be aged 5-12 yrs and will be grouped accordingly.

Pack lunch, drinks, warm clothes and change of/wet weather clothes will be required.

Cost: 1 day

SO, here’s the exam question for all those U16s studying for those GCSEs. How to beat Wallingford after being soundly beaten by them last October – how to handle their undoubtedly class pack with numerous academy players – how to get enough points to make it today that the trophy was awarded?

Here’s the answer: Put 7 tries past them on the first team pitch. Take on the Wallingford forwards by disrupting their set plays at every opportunity, and tackle, tackle and then tackle some more.

MATCH REPORT – Chinnor U16 37 Vs Wallingford U16 7; League match; Sunday, March 29.(Contributed)

WITHIN three minutes of the kick-off, a quick tap penalty taken by Dan, swift interchange between Tom Hook and Dom and Guy had scored the first try, the scene had been set.

To mention all the scorers – and they will be named – would fail to credit all the guys who worked to put them through. It would also fail to mention the character shown when the tide started to turn just after half-time with Wallingford having the wind behind them. The response was for Chinnor to counter Wallingford’s first score at 22 – 7with a classic Ollie midfield burst to the line pressing home the domination in the loose.

Your correspondent detected a slight moistening in Rob Hill’s eyes late on in the second half as he was heard to say “I’ve never seen them play so well” – even Alan A was smiling as the final 2 tries were run in.

Maybe it was just (the) wind!

The scorers – Guy Carter, Nic Barker, Dom Bradbrook-Taylor (2), Tom Evans, Ollie Barker and Jason Hankins crossed the line. At half-time we were at 22 – 0, at full time, 37 – 7.

So let’s mention all those that put those guys through – Jack, Cameron and Ingy the bravest front row against guys stones heavier – Ingy would star later on with a solo run so magnificent everyone took a break to admire it! Ieuan and Josh superb in the line-out and so very mobile all over the pitch. Tommy and Dougie tackled, tackled and then did a bit more tackling just to make sure. Guy kept talking and leading from number 8 right to the end.

What did the backs do with that ball? Henry ran brilliant lines allowing Ollie to get space and the finishing by Tom, Dom and Nic was first class. Moving the ball around, kicking for territory and “taking one for the team” was your correspondent’s man of the match George Grose – who might remember some of the game when his head gets better later in the week.

Sad to see injuries on the Wallingford team – our wishes for swift recoveries are passed on to those involved. Nic Barker too, nursing a very painful shoulder from quite early on.

Please don’t forget those on the bench – theirs’ is sometime the hardest hour or so, waiting for the moment to come on and so often frustrated if the opportunity doesn’t come – Jack, Lewis, Matt and Connor – remember the game can’t be played without you. Not forgetting Rory and Rob G – early season casualties who turned up to support from the touchlines.

A big round of applause for the coaching team – Coaches Matthew Cundy, Alan Aitken, Mark Carter, Sam Angell, Alex Wingfield and of course led by Rob Hill.