Rugby (and GAB) the winner in 123 point thriller!

Before we get into the report, we want to thank our friends at Chippy for inviting us over when Littlemore claimed their pitch was waterlogged, so our league game was postponed (to 20th Jan). We lost a few when the travelling distance was increased (and one overslept...), so we took 14 over to Chippy who had 11. Jason Beesley happily played for Chippy for the whole game, and Dan Porter for 50min so the match started at 12v12 with uncontested scrums.

We also want to thanks the ref, Nick Deacon, who couldn't have reffed the game better in the circumstances - the highlight being when he blew the whistle for full time as Alfie had got himself clear to run in what would have been his 2nd and GAB's 13th try. Unlucky for some. He was rightly treated to a pint alongside the MotM and DotD post game. Thank you sir!

So, to the game... Things got hazy in the middle, and there was a lot to remember so bear with...

The 12v12 format left things pretty open, and there was a lot of running undertaken. GAB got off to things pretty quickly and pressed into Chippy's half. A high tackle drew the penalty and then advantage wasn't taken a quick tap from fly half Rob Eynon found Connor Sadler in space and he ran in from 35m through a few tackles and into the corner. Alfie missed his with first attempt at the posts, but ended with 10/12 from the tee. 0-5

Chippy struck back next after some good phase play and took the lead 7-5

GAB took the lead back again soon after when Eynon again found Connor Sadler (although he was actually passing to skipper Ian Wassell...) who broke through some tackles on the 22 and went in under the posts. Alfie Morton added the extras. 7-12

Chippy again struck back through their skipper Julian Hayball who darted under the posts for his traditional score when playing against GAB. 14-12.

The back forth nature of the early play continued with GAB scoring next. With the defence now being drawn to Sadler, a dummy line from him created the space for Eynon to put Sadler's centre partner Ed Clark through a hole. He powered over the covering tackles for his first try of the afternoon. Alfie Morton again successful with the extras. GAB were now in a lead they wouldn't relinquish. 14-19

GAB then scored a few unanswered tries to pull away - first a quick lineout from Teifion Jones to Rob Eynon saw the latter put a chip over the top and pressure from both on the covering full back and winger saw the winger drop the ball for Eynon to pick up and dive over the line. Then good hands in the pack saw Kieran Sadler to crash over for the only score not to come from 9, 10, 12 or 13. Rob Eynon got his 2nd after being well placed to take an offload from Alfie Morton who danced his way nearly to try line, and a line break from Nathan Hamilton put Rob Eynon clear in the 22 and his pass found Ed Clark hugging the touchline to diver over for his score. Alfie Morton converted all bar the final score and GAB were cruising at 12-45.

Chippy did get one back and Connor Sadler found time to score his hattrick to lead to a half time score of 19-52.

GAB and Connor Sadler began where they left off and scored first in the 2nd half. Alfie Morton added the extras before Chippy struck back. 24-59

Alfie Morton finally got himself a try to go with the kicking points he was accumulating, picking up from the base of a ruck and beating a few defenders before swan diving over the try line. He converted his own score for 24-66.

Ed Clark again got in the act coming in from the touchline at an angle to crash over for his hattrick score which Alfie Morton again converted. In the build up Teifion Jones got a hamstring injury and which we hope isn't too serious and we see him on the pitch again this month. 24-73

By now Morton and Eynon had swapped round in the half back position and from a lineout Eynon found Morton who gave Connor Sadler the ball around the halfway line - that was all Connor needed and he ran in for his 5th try and Alfie Morton's 10th conversion to take GAB's score to 80.

To try and aid Chippy's defence against his brother Kieran Sadler swapped sides, allowing Dan Porter to don the black for a short period. Chippy kicked off to Connor, Connor ran at Kieran and Kieran's ferocious tackle not only sat Connor down quite effectively, it sadly broke Kieran's foot - after his partner's car was brought beside the pitch he was taken off to A&E. We hope to see him back in a rugby shirt before the season is over.

After the injury break, GAB didn't really switch back on and Chippy were able to run in 3 tries, converting 2 for a final score (and that final coup de grace from the ref!) of 43-80. Both teams played the game with a lot of laughter and it was great to blow off some Christmas excesses. We now focus on Chinnor 4s who are at The Brake on Saturday.

In the first half a Chippy player, Callum, badly damaged his shoulder and also had to head to A&E and we wish him, Kieran and Teifion speedy recoveries.

Tap Social MotM: Alfie Morton, as chosen by the ref. In an all court game he score a try, 10 conversions and a couple of turnovers.

Scorers:
C Sadler: 5T
E Clark: 3T
R Eynon: 2T
K Sadler: 1T
A Morton: 1T, 10C