Young Chinnor come of age

From the archive, first published Wednesday 6th Nov 2002.

Chinnor 46, Truro 5: Chinnor's prospects looked as bleak as Saturday's weather when their pack hurtled backwards at the first set scrum and Truro No 8 Simon Griffiths scored the easiest of tries after six minutes.

But the home fowards turned the game - and possibly Chinnor's season - around in remarkable style to set up a surprisingly easy victory in their Powergen South West 1 match at Kingsey Road.

Before the game, Chinnor coach Lynn Evans stressed the importance of this game, following an uncertain start to the season.

But his depleted and young side came up trumps in the wind and the rain.

With experienced loose head Simon Matthews taking the sting out of the Truro front row, and James Bornis and Arnoldus Du Toit Serdyn dominating the line-outs, Chinnor controlled the rest of the game.

The match was also a personal triumph for fly half Conor Begley, with a personal tally of 26 points, while Ger Phillips controlled matters at scrum half.

It was Begley's well-placed kick to the corner that set up Charlie Oyebade's equalising try, and the fly half added three penalties to put Chinnor 14-5 ahead at the break.

Truro, never the best of travellers, appeared to give up the ghost in the second half as their cumbersome pack was moved around the field.

After two more Begley penalties, Chinnor kept up the pressure and scored four tries in the last quarter, three of which Begley converted.

Flanker Nick Marr charged over from close range, before Begley himself darted through a half-gap to touch down.

Marr's break put replacement winger Tom Wood in at the left corner, before Oyebade capped it all with an elusive try, following good work by centre Darren Oxley.

Suddenly, Chinnor's prospects seem sunnier!

Chinnor: Cawston, Clarke, Oxley, Kruger (Wood 62), Oyebade, Begley, Phillips, Matthews, Goddard (Whelan 62), Winpenny, Du Toit Serdyn, Borgnis, Marr, Seymour, Fincken (Hennessy 50).

Truro: Coombes, Rowe, Caruana, Enoch (Rowe 46), Brandham, Pollard, Craven, Prynn (Sharp 78), Gay, Bilkey, Yelland, Osbourne, Robins (Penaluna 27), Allen, Griffiths.

Referee: A Thomas (Berks).