4th XV Match Report
Andover 20 - Chineham II 7 - Reports Terry Summers
The final game of the season saw Andover 4th XV host Chineham 2nd XV at the Goodship Ground. The weather was good, if a little hot, and the pitch, though hard, was conducive to fast open rugby. To top it all, turnout was excellent with virtually the whole squad making the effort to see the season out in style. Having won the toss, skipper Campbell Holland elected to play from the clubhouse end.
Chineham’s kick-off failed to travel the required 10 metres and the home side elected to scrum back at the centre spot. The set piece scrum has been one of the team’s strengths this season and this game was to prove no exception. The front row of Mark Hogben, Henry Smith and Hywell Inglis, powered by locks Dean Carter and James Savins and supported by a back row of Holland, Tony Fawcett and James Hatcher scrummaged hard to drive the opposition backwards.
The ball was released by scrum half Dave Hoo to stand-off half Matt Snell who evaded several tackles before passing out to centre Chris Cutler who crossed the advantage line before being held up.
The back-row were at the breakdown quickly to win the ball and, following several darting runs, the resultant maul was deemed to be static and the referee was given no choice but to award a scrum 15 metres or so from the visitor’s try line. Again, the 4ths took control at the scrum driving the full distance before Holland dropped onto the ball to score a well deserved, though unconverted, try.
From the restart, the home side again took control but this time through their backs. Slick handling saw the ball pass through outside centre Harry Foxwell onto right wing Arron Carter who went onto a mazy run before eventually being held up close to the 22 metre line. The pack secured the ball before Hatcher picked up and drove forward, good link play between him and Inglis allowed the ball to be shipped quickly to Cutler who spotted a gap which he went through to score an unconverted try.
The visitors, to their credit, kept their composure and continued to play open rugby and on several occasions almost burst through on the left only to be halted by fullback Terry Summers or winger, and man of the match, Paul Canale. As the half-time whistle was blown the home side was in control.
Manager Shaun Flanagan made a few changes at half time and Doug Edmunds, Scott McCabe and Tim Smith joined the fray.
The second half was to be a repeat of the first. The mix of hard running and controlled aggression was too much for the visitors and after 15 minutes or so of the second half, scrum-half Hoo picked up a loose ball from the back of a Chineham scrum and sprinted over the line to score.
Not long afterwards, excellent interplay from the home side allowed Snell the space to take the ball, sidestep two tackles and then stretch out his arm to place the ball on the line for a fantastic try. Despite being 20 points down, Chineham continued to compete well and never once gave up hope and it was just rewards for their endeavours when they eventually exploited a rare gap in the All Black’s defence to score a converted try. The referee blew the whistle for the end of the game with Andover having achieved another victory in a reasonably successful season which saw them finish in the top half of the table. Final score 20-7. Pictures of the game, courtesy of John Crozier, can be found on the Andover RFC Facebook page.
Following the match, Manager Shaun Flanagan presented the Most Improved Player Award to hooker Henry Smith and the Coach’s Player of the Year Award to Henry’s front row partner Hywell Inglis, with the Players’ Player going to Campbell Holland.
Finally, all players would like to thank everyone in the Club who works behind the scenes and allows them to take to the field each week especially Manager Shaun Flanagan who is retiring to take up refereeing and Coach Ricky Ross who works tirelessly throughout the season to ensure that players are well prepared to play.
Scorers
Tries: Holland, Cutler, Hoo, Snell
Cons:
Pen: