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Sunday 25 October
Windsor 3 - 17 Chobham
Sunny, but breezy conditions, ideal for running rugby welcomed Chobham back to Windsor, and in the end Chobham fully exploited the conditions, playing some sparkling, running rugby and consequentially were comfortable winners.
For the first ten minutes though Chobham were kept on the back foot by a lively Windsor team, who in keeping with their traditional play managed to seize the advantage in the rucks. Chobham in their traditional play in contrast seemed to be only half awake, and a series of Windsor thrusts culminated with a penalty awarded under the posts for a high tackle.
Windsor maintained the pressure and Chobham continued to give away numerous penalties continually handing the advantage to the opposition.
Chobham eventually through some good handling pushed into the Windsor 25m. A few more penalties against Chobham eased the pressure on Windsor. Foresaking the good handling that had taken them into the 25m, Chobham put through a speculative kick which was fumbled by Windsor under their posts allowing Jake Dunne to crash through from short range. With the conversion by Josh Lawrence Chobham edged ahead 7-3.
Chobham were beginning to put together more concerted pressure as Windsor’s early fire began to cool and the try coming shortly before the break seemed to shift the balance away from the home side.
Playing against the strong diagonal wind in the second period Windsor’s cause was on the back foot from the restart as Alex Boniface made a fantastic charge through the Windsor defence but lost the ball in the tackle.
Chobham kept the initiative seizing the scrum from Windsor, and only handling and passing slip-ups by Chobham kept the score close.
Eventually the Chobham ascendancy paid off as they fed Jake from a ruck, who linked with Guy Mawhood on the wing, with the ball quickly re-cycled Jacob Goss powered into the Windsor defence and offloaded to Jake for his second try. Despite the missed conversion Chobham now had a comfortable 12-3 lead.
The advantage was immediately handed back to Chobham as the restart kick failed to go 10m. Kieron Clark made a long distant break for the Windsor line, but was hauled down by good cover defence.
Windsor came more into the game as some of the Chobham forwards seemed to be taking a rest at some of the rucks and failing to push were shoved back by effective Windsor counter-rucking.
But all the pressure was on Windsor. Joe Aartsen was held up over the line and despite other handling errors, Jacob Goss eventually went over wide on the left for the final score.
Chobham continued to press and were only denied further scores by a combination of an early finish due to a Windsor injury and some more handling errors.
After a slow start, Chobham showed some expansive running and passing, which Windsor had no answer to as the Chobham forwards gradually took control. This was eventually a comfortable win after initial pressure, and the score was only as close as it was as Chobham often failed to capitalise with the final pass.
Sunday 11 October
Chobham u13s triumph at Maidenhead Festival
Chobham 5 - 5 Maidenhead
Missing a 10m line may have confused Chobham and a short kick-off gave Maidenhead the advantage, and Chobham were still asleep as Maidenhead moved the ball and were caught offside, but they were saved further embarrassment as Maidenhead fumbled the ball yielding a line-out on the 22m to Chobham.
Chobham were still not awake and trying to move the ball through stationary backs saw Jake receive the ball and several defenders at the same time. The almost inevitable turnover saw Maidenhead move the ball quickly to score in the right corner.
Finally this seemed to stir Chobham; Justin Rowland took the kick-off and charged into Maidenhead, Luke Finlay then made it into the Maidenhead 22m. Chobham eventually forced the ball over the line for Jacob Chapman to get the equalising score.
Chobham were still not firing on all cylinders and spent more time in the second half defending than attacking; tackling was however good, exemplified by Alexander Boniface, Kieron Clark and Guy Mawhood all making crucial interventions.
Generally Chobham were not at their best but came away with a creditable draw against determined hosts, but they obviously still had a lot in reserve.
Chobham 10 - 0 Marlow
It seemed that the sluggishness was going to carry over into the next game, as another short kick-off gave Marlow a scrum back on half way, but the Chobham pack disrupted the scrum and from the ensuing ruck forced a penalty.
Chobham began to pressurise Marlow, who only managed to relieve the strain intermittently by hacking the ball up field. Chobham remained in and around the Marlow 22m for a long period, but poor control often gave up the advantage. Eventually a penalty for a squint feed saw the forwards drive over the line but were deemed to have been held up, the reset scrum saw the same result and with the referee calling half-time without allowing the scrum to be retaken, it remained scoreless despite the Chobham pressure.
The restart saw Joe Aartsen seize the kick-off and fly into Marlow like an express train. Chobham drove Marlow backwards and a speculative chip in the 22m paid unexpected dividends as Marlow were forced to touch down; Joe picked up and went over from the resulting 5m scrum.
As Marlow responded Luke Finlay was unfortunately caught and ended on the ground with a knee injury and had to be replaced. Luke spent the rest of the day with an ice pack on his knee – here’s hoping it’s only temporary.
Whilst Chobham maintained the advantage, handling and decision making was still not out of the top drawer and it was not until the end of the game that Jamie McNicholas deftly picked up a loose ball and flipped on a pass to the forwards who made the most of the referee's penalty advantage with Ben Peers crashing over for the score.
A good win for Chobham who were getting better throughout the game against resilient opposition.
Chobham 15 - 0 Camberley
Initial skirmishes between the teams remained around half-way, but Chobham eventually hoofed the ball into the middle of the Camberley 22m.
From here, ominously for Camberley at least, Chobham took control of the scrum which they never relinquished for the rest of the match.
As the weather worsened, with fine drizzle falling in a steady curtain, Chobham finally upped their game, freely moving the ball as if it was a fine, dry summers day.
Wave after wave of Chobham attacks knocked on the Camberley door, which somehow remained intact. The best chance of the half saw Jamie McNicholas forced out just on the half-time break.
Chobham held the upper hand and shortly after the resumption Jake Dunn put a long kick through into the Camberley 22m. Returning the kick, but perhaps not familiar with full details of Law 11(f) Offside and Onside in General Play (see page 70 of 185 pages of the 2009 Law Book!!), Camberley players advanced towards the ball from offside positions, meaning the ball was returned into the Camberley 22m from where Chobham pretty well stayed for the remainder of the game.
Chobham proceeded to dismantle the Camberley scrum, taking the ball regardless of the put in. Eventually the ball moved to the right wing and Jamie McNicholas squeezed in to break the deadlock. The second try came soon after with Chobham sweeping back to the right corner for Jamie to record his second try.
The final try saw the Chobham forwards bully the Camberley pack backwards forcing Eoin Keally over the line.
The second half performance in poor conditions was astonishingly accomplished, forwards and backs finally producing the play that had been simmering in the background all day.
If Chobham maintain their confidence which this match should produce, and carry on playing simple, direct rugby they will be a force to contend with this year.
Chobham A Squad: Joe Aartsen, Alexander Boniface, Ross Cattaneo, Jacob Chapman, Kieran Clark, Jack Colfer, Jake Dunne, Luke Finlay, Elliot Glover, Jacob Goss, Matthew Kimberling,, Sammy King, Eoin Keally, Joshua Laurence, Guy Mawhood, Jamie McNicolas, Adam Peever, Justin Rowland, Ben Peers, Liam Phillips, Elliot Samuels, Nick Sutherland, Jerome True and Dan Walton.
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