Hartpury RFC vs Chinnor - 34 - 19

19 October 24

Chinnor 19 Hartpury 34

Bazalgette boot stays pin-point accurate in first away win of the season

By John Vaughan

Hartpury came away with a convincing 34-19 win after managing to repel a full throttle comeback from Chinnor in the final quarter.

The visitors playing with the breeze and sun at their backs produced a very professional performance in the first half to post a 0-20 lead.

Chinnor would have been still quite confident at the break that they could get back into the match with the elements in their favour but Hartpury upped the tempo and scored two fine tries to put the result seemingly to bed .

Mike Austin supported well after a break from the dangerous Robbie Smith and scooted home from 50 metres. This was quickly followed by another break from deep that Evan Minto finished off in style, and making it 0-34 after 45 minutes.

Chinnor then produced a thrilling comeback as they eventually seemed to get on the better side of a whistle happy referee, but their brave comeback effort fell short of a bonus point.

Hartpury director of rugby John Barnes said: “It was a very pleasing result and I was impressed with our control and precision in the first half. Having played here a few times before I knew the game was not over even at 20-0 and told the boys that the first score after the break was crucial, so I was extremely pleased when Mikey showed a clean pair of heels.

“Chinnor defended incredibly well in that first half but Harry’s experience in controlling the game was a crucial factor. It was great to see such a large crowd at such a lovely club and fair play to Minty and his squad who gave it the kitchen sink in the second half.”

Harry Bazalgette dictated play superbly and his error free performance was the difference as Chinnor’s unenforced error count meant they were continually on the back foot. This was compounded by the card happy referee who reduced Chinnor to 13 men which eventually allowed Alex Morgan to score, and was well converted by man of the match Bazalgette.

The visitor’s upped the tempo in the second half and the quickly raced to a 34-0 lead with ruthless efficiency.

Chinnor eventually responded when looking down the barrel, a superb break out of defence from Grant Hughes who was cynically pushed over by Bazalgette as he chased his kick through and he saw yellow.

That’s when Chinnor staged their rearguard action and were just short of getting a deserved bonus point after tries from Max Clementson, Willie Ryan and Chris Moore.

Chinnor DOR Nick Easter said “I was really impressed with our defensive effort in the first half. I could not have asked for more. Hartpury were a well drilled and skillful outfit with two superb half backs. If we had eradicated our unforced errors the match would have been in the balance.”

Scorers:

Chinnor:

Tries: Max Clementson 60, Willie Ryan 78, Chris Moore 80

Conversions: James Bourton 61, 80+1

Penalties:

Drop Goals:

Hartpury:

Tries: Harry Short 18, Alex Morgan 22, Mike Austin 42 , Evan Minto 45

Conversions: Harry Bazalgette 19, 23, 43, 46

Penalties: Harry Bazalgette 10, 40

Drop Goals:

Team line-ups (15-9; 1-8):

Chinnor: William Feeney, Morgan Passman, James Bourton, Eparama Rokodrava (Ryan Crowley 68), Grant Hughes, Connor Slevin (Nick Smith 50), Luke Carter (Callum Pascoe 47); Keston Lines (Lawson Porter 75), Alun Walker (Chris Moore 60), Robin Hardwick (Tim Hoyt 60), William Ryan ©, George Shaw, Harry Dugmore, George Stokes, (Max Clementson 45), Isaiah Wharton (Alfie North 58)

Sin Bins: Keston Lines 28, Alun Walker 37

Hartpury: Alex Morgan, Brad Denty (Max Knight 72), Josiah Edwards-Giraud, Robbie Smith (Rory Taylor 72), Olly Holiday, Harry Bazalgette, Mike Austin (Kyle McGhie 72); Aristot Benz-Salmon (Archie McArthur 60), Will Crane © (Ethan Hunt 70), Jon Benz-Salmon (Joe Rees 65), Cam Cobbett (Tom Cowan 64), Jack Davies, Sam Lewis, Harry Short, Evan Minto (Jarrard Hayler 30)

Sin Bins: Harry Bazalgette 48 , Josiah Edwards-Giraud 78

Stats: