Old Millhillians 2nds 5 Chesham 2nds 5
Only slightly deterred by several long pre-match phone calls from the Old Millihillian's captain, Chesham 2nds were able to travel with 13 players to fulfil this fixture. Relieved to find that OMs were likewise short handed with 14 players, the game kicked off in ideal conditions with soft ground and blue skies.
A shortage of props for both teams meant scrums were uncontested, depriving Chesham of one of their strongest assets this season. The home side looked to spread possession wide from early on in order to make use of their one man advantage. Chesham's defence was resilient however, with Midge - playing in the unfamiliar position of centre - making uncounted tackles in midfield and Zac Hart at full back fielding everything OMs could through at him. Zac's crunching tackle on the OM's 2nd row forward typified the gritty Chesham performance.
OMs did break through eventually in the first half, but the try went unconverted to leave the score at 5-0. Chesham were unlucky not to score a try of their own, when a strong run from energetic Nick Jones created a 2 man overlap only for the ball to bounce agonisingly from Rick Glover's fingertips as he tried to take Jones' scoring pass.
The second half remained close, OM's desperately trying to make the man advantage count only to be knocked back by the stalwart Chesham defence. Glover began to dominate line out possession for Chesham and good distribution from hooker-turned-scrum half Matt Mallinson put pressure on the home team. It was a clean line out catch by Glover that lead to a strong run from centre Joe Murphy, in his first game back following a prolonged injury, drawing two defenders into the tackle. A good off-load followed by some clever take-and-pass handling from the Chesham backs eventually put the ball in the hands of right wing Dan Hewitt, cleverly popping up on the left wing, to speed over and score in the corner. The conversion was again missed and the scores were tied at 5-5.
Chesham pressed further in the last quarter, but missed several penalty attempts that would have given them the lead and the match finished level. Overall a fair result, but who knows what would have happened had the sides been even.
Chesham 2nd XV: Nick Jones, Nick Mazur, James Rocks, Rick Glover, Trevor Lee, Pete Wharton, Matt Mallinson, Mark Rosser (capt), Joe Murphy, Midge, Dan Hewitt, Matt Croxford, Zac Hart.
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