MATCH REPORT: Worthing v Chinnor – Saturday, January 31. Score: Worthing 47 pts Chinnor 13 pts.
Chinnor’s mini revival hit the buffers at Rugby Park, Worthing, on Saturday. Worthing’s juggernaut pack out muscled the Chinnor eight in and around the ruck area where they also gained a fair proportion of turn-over ball. They played to a pattern, an effective one at that, with their pick up and drives committing the Chinnor forwards to the tackle and then shifting the ball to both their strong running fly-half and centres to make further inroads into the Chinnor defensive line-up.
Chinnor did not help their cause by persistantly endeavouring to run the ball inside their own 22 metre line, forfeiting possession, and gifting Worthing try scoring opportunities.
Chinnor were forced into making two changes from their selected line-up. Tom Whelan came into the front row for Bob Baker who is on England Under 20’s duty next week-end, and James Serrano started for the injured Pip Seymour.
Worthing took the lead in the 6th minute with a Ben Coulson penalty. Defences dominated proceedings with the game evenly poised until Chinnor conceded a soft try in 32nd minute when, from the back of a line-out, the ball reached the Worthing centre Callum Wilson who brushed off a couple of tackles to score near the posts. Coulson added the extra points. Minutes later Ben Hewitt was successful with a penalty which gave a half-time scoreline of 10 points to 3 in favour of the home side.
Within two minutes of the restart Chinnor scored a well worked try by transferring the ball to the tight side to give James Serrano a run into the corner. Worthing settled their nerves soon after by virtue of two penalty goals by McLean and a try by Harris, this from a Worthing turn-over deep inside Chinnor territory. Chinnor responded with a try when, from one of their very few kicks out of defence, the ball was spilled by the Worthing full-back giving Serrano a clear run to the line. Unfortunately Ben Hewitt missed the resultant conversion but nevertheless, with the score-line 21pts to 13, Chinnor were in with a shout with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Instead of playing in a similar mode to the previous 60 minutes Chinnor decided to play catch-up rugby which proved to be calamitous. They had the wind at their backs, ignored the fact that they had scored with a kick from a kick inside their 22 metres, but instead they insisted on running the ball just metres from their line. This played into the hands of the Worthing forwards who then created the platform to run in three tries in just 10 minutes. That their goal-kicker McLean could not miss his kicks at goal from any position only added to the Chinnor pain. This was then compounded, when from a series of moves involving both forwards and backs, Chinnor created an overlap only for the final pass to be intercepted, and with every Chinnor player up in attack, the way was clear for McLean to race 90 metres, score under the posts and convert his own try on the final whistle.
Obviously this was not a good day at the office and lessons will need to be learned. Chinnor did not play well and were way off the intensity of the past two weeks. However the scoreline was someway off a true reflection of the game as a whole. They should have utilised the swirling wind at their backs and played the game in the Worthing half, particularly in the second period, rather than continually running the ball out of defence which was a strategy that was patently not working.
It was also not a good day for Angus Neilson. The Chinnor No.7 spent the night in a Worthing hospital with severe concussion. Apparently he took a knock early in the game but carried on without so much of a word to the bench. He was replaced late on in the game because of a shoulder injury! This would go some way to explaining the ease in which Worthing went over for their first try. It would appear that he stayed on the park as both parents were over from Australia on a surprise visit to watch him play and celebrate his 21st birthday bash at Chinnor later on in the evening. Angus has made a big impression at Chinnor both on and off the field. We wish him a speedy recovery.