Once again for our Students’ Christmas fixture we were blessed with a dry, mild evening for what was a return fixture against Chinnor’s Student Team (who we had enjoyed a high scoring fixture against on Good Friday, earlier this year). I was also delighted to have the problem of finding quality game time for 27 players!

Pitch conditions were a little “heavy”, however this did not detract from the quality and pace of the rugby played, which was facilitated by the expert officiating of Ash Rowden.

The match kicked off and from the outset it was obvious that Chinnor were a side of high quality and looked as though they had played together ( a fact that was confirmed later when it emerged that the nucleus of the side were part of the squad from last season’s highly successful Colts Team who reached the final of the Nationals Colts Cup).

The commitment and effort of the Rams side was first rate but they did concede an early well deserved score. After which they hit back strongly to score a try which was converted and nudged Rams in front.

Chinnor’s strong play continued to pay dividends and the gap widened before and after half time, with Rams being a little unlucky with two potential scores falling the wrong side of difficult decisions from the officials.

In the end Chinnor emerged as comfortable winners, with the final score standing at 31-12 (I think!!!). However Rams played with pride and passion throughout and never gave up, the coaching team of Big Pete, Mawgan and myself were extremely proud of their efforts.

Many thanks to all those who helped me with the fixture and to Chinnor for sharing a similar philosophy to ourselves and turning it into reality, hopefully there will be many more of these fixtures to come!

Overall the fixture was a great success and one we hope to repeat on a return basis on Good Friday 2018 (so keep 30th March free in your busy diaries) and it was a delight to see so many students from both Rams and Chinnor reconnecting with their clubs. If you enjoyed it, that sort of fun can be available every week! Get down to your respective club, there is a team ready and waiting for you!!

Match Night Shots can be found here >> S2S Photography