Bicester 22 v Aylesbury 17
Aylesbury arrived two men short, and were loaned Scott Povey at lock and Charlie Bethell (who had come to support) at centre.
During the opening exchanges, both sides showed their intent to play open rugby. Callum McCulloch was unlucky to see his fine clearance kick overrun for a 22 drop out. Bicester built pressure and a good line break by 2nd row Henry Gayler found Will Brett-Harding on the wing who was forced into touch. Aylesbury lineout was stolen by Conor White who broke through and set 5m out, Dougie Haynes took it over but was held up. From the ensuing 5m scrum, quick ball from scrum half Isaac Bensley was moved out wide along captain Harry Courts perfectly set backs line to create the overlap for PJ Gardiner on the left wing who went over fro the opening score. Dougie slotted the difficult conversion. Sharon Gardiner went for lie down.
Aylesbury took a scrum against the head and enjoyed some time in Bicesters half until Henry sent a huge kick down field, the ball just crossed the try line and Aylesbury managed to touch down for a 22 dropout. The kick was taken superbly by PJ at pace and he raced toward the line but was put into touch as he reached the corner flag. Conor stole their lineout again, this time going over for his first try of the season.
Dougie had to leave the field when his recent knee strain recurred whilst making a clearance kick, luckily Ben Jenks was at Chesterton to help out with his younger brother’s age group and was able to replace Dougie, the game held up while he struggled into Dougies tight fitting shorts.
Aylesburys halfbacks continued to threaten. Missed tackles gave Scott the opening for a line break, a high tackle on Scott from Bicester fullback Callum was penalised by the referee and punished by the Aylesbury scrum half who reacted quickly to tap to himself cross for their first try.
Hooker Ollie Cavey took a scrum against the head from which Conor made a charging run and offload, Bicester moved toward the line and PJ cut inside for a well finished score. HT: 17-5.
Bicester found an edge to their game during the first period of the second half, dominating both possession and territory. An Aylesbury clearance kick found touch in Bicesters half but quick lineout from Henry found Tom Burrell in midfield who set off on a counter attack involving great support play from Conor and Ben J who found Giles Baldwin out wide. Giles headed for the corner and passed inside to Tom who crossed but to no avail as the touch judge had raised his flag on Giles. Under pressure again on their own lineout, Aylesbury were penalised. No8 Marcus Linfoot picked up off the back of the 5m scrum, he was stopped 2m short of the line but had Henry in support to make the score.
Aylesbury raised their game for the closing quarter. A combination of some testing kicks, some panicky play amongst our backs and a couple of failed attempts to clear our line saw Bicester on the backfoot. Just when it looked like we had regained a bit of composure, Charlie Bethell stole from Ben Saltzer and finished under the posts in Aylesbury colours, his try was converted. Their spirited comeback continued and resulted in a third try. Bicester found the required calm to play out the last few minutes with secured possession and take the win.
Thanks to Scott and Charlie for playing for the opposition, however an unforgiving Statto has awarded Charlie mid season stats of -5 points.
Try Scorers: PJ Gardiner (2), Conor White and Henry Gayler
Conversion: Dougie Haynes
Players Man of Match: Henry Gayler
Coaches Man of Match: Conor White
Monday, 22 December 2008
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Match Report County Cup QF v Abingdon - 14 Dec
Oxon County Cup QF
Abingdon 0 v Bicester 41
The boys finally began their Cup defence achieving a controlled win with well executed rugby.
Abingdon kicked off, Conor White received and ran back to halfway to set the first of 4 phases through the forwards up to the 22, Mats Venning and Chris Nourse moved the ball out quickly to Henry Gayler who went over in the corner to complete a well worked score. Abingdon secured possession and looked to move the ball out from 10 to 12 but Dan Rowland had read the move and intercepted to finish under the posts, Dougie Haynes added the extras. Dan set off on a break down the right wing and was well tackled by Abingdon. Bicester calmly built pressure from which Cameron Fortin-Smith made the decisive line break towards the posts, Cammy passed to Charlie Bethell who gave a miss pass out to Robson Connor who went over for his first try of the season.
Bicester lost their way for the next five minutes, gave away a couple of penalties for offside which enabled Abingdon to spend some time in their opponents half. When Abingdon were found offside on their 10m line, Henry took a quick penalty and stepped a couple of defenders to score under the posts and put the team back on track. Dan quickly followed this with his second in the corner. From the restart, Mats Venning caught and set off on a good run up the left to the 22 where he passed inside to Henry in support who raced in under the posts for his hatrick. This was the sixth try and observing the competition rules the referee asked the Abingdon captain if he would like the game to be stopped, to his credit he opted to play on until half time. The final score of the match came from a break down the right wing by Ed Mawdsley, when Ed was stopped Conor took it on and found Dougie in support, Dougie unselfishly passed when only a metre from the line for Ollie Cassidy to score.
Bicester now face an away trip to Chinnor in the Semi-Finals.
Try scorers: Henry Gayler (3), Dan Rowland (2), Robson Connor and Oliver Cassidy
Conversions: Dougie Haynes (3)
Friendly - Abingdon 0 v Bicester 42
To their continued credit, Abingdon were up for playing the second half as a friendly, enabling Bicester to play their unused replacements. The decision proved to be a good one as Abingdon clearly improved defensively in the second game.
Bicester looked certain to score when Harry Court broke on the wing and crossed the line, bizarrely Harry chose to go for an American Football touch down rather than a try (certain acronyms were attempted on the touchline, the writer has chosen not to print but will gladly reveal if asked). The first try came when Henry and Tom Burrell combined well with a nice offload and inside pass, Tom’s line break was decisive and he charged in to score, Ben Jenks converted his first of 5. The second try came from an inside pass from Dan to Antony Iveson, there was simply no stopping Antony showing a powerful burst of pace to the line with some reluctant tackle attempts being brushed aside. Paul Nourse described his run as giving 300%. From an Abingdon scrum, Mats caught their scrum half and created turnover ball from which Tom again broke through to score his second.
Despite Abingdons increased efforts in the forwards, the Bicester runners were just too strong, exemplified by Antony who received the ball at No8 on the halfway line from a Bicester scrum, rode a tackle, paused for thought and then sprinted down the line to score in the corner. Abingdon tried to get points on the board by attempting a penalty kick from the half way line, a valiant attempt was on target but fell just short of the bar. Henry and Dan each scored again with Dan converting his own try. Thanks to loosehead Ollie Cass for entertaining us with an admirable performance playing at fullback.
Try Scorers: Tom Burrell (2), Antony Iveson (2), Henry Gayler and Dan Rowland
Conversions: Ben Jenks (5) and Dan Rowland
Abingdon 0 v Bicester 41
The boys finally began their Cup defence achieving a controlled win with well executed rugby.
Abingdon kicked off, Conor White received and ran back to halfway to set the first of 4 phases through the forwards up to the 22, Mats Venning and Chris Nourse moved the ball out quickly to Henry Gayler who went over in the corner to complete a well worked score. Abingdon secured possession and looked to move the ball out from 10 to 12 but Dan Rowland had read the move and intercepted to finish under the posts, Dougie Haynes added the extras. Dan set off on a break down the right wing and was well tackled by Abingdon. Bicester calmly built pressure from which Cameron Fortin-Smith made the decisive line break towards the posts, Cammy passed to Charlie Bethell who gave a miss pass out to Robson Connor who went over for his first try of the season.
Bicester lost their way for the next five minutes, gave away a couple of penalties for offside which enabled Abingdon to spend some time in their opponents half. When Abingdon were found offside on their 10m line, Henry took a quick penalty and stepped a couple of defenders to score under the posts and put the team back on track. Dan quickly followed this with his second in the corner. From the restart, Mats Venning caught and set off on a good run up the left to the 22 where he passed inside to Henry in support who raced in under the posts for his hatrick. This was the sixth try and observing the competition rules the referee asked the Abingdon captain if he would like the game to be stopped, to his credit he opted to play on until half time. The final score of the match came from a break down the right wing by Ed Mawdsley, when Ed was stopped Conor took it on and found Dougie in support, Dougie unselfishly passed when only a metre from the line for Ollie Cassidy to score.
Bicester now face an away trip to Chinnor in the Semi-Finals.
Try scorers: Henry Gayler (3), Dan Rowland (2), Robson Connor and Oliver Cassidy
Conversions: Dougie Haynes (3)
Friendly - Abingdon 0 v Bicester 42
To their continued credit, Abingdon were up for playing the second half as a friendly, enabling Bicester to play their unused replacements. The decision proved to be a good one as Abingdon clearly improved defensively in the second game.
Bicester looked certain to score when Harry Court broke on the wing and crossed the line, bizarrely Harry chose to go for an American Football touch down rather than a try (certain acronyms were attempted on the touchline, the writer has chosen not to print but will gladly reveal if asked). The first try came when Henry and Tom Burrell combined well with a nice offload and inside pass, Tom’s line break was decisive and he charged in to score, Ben Jenks converted his first of 5. The second try came from an inside pass from Dan to Antony Iveson, there was simply no stopping Antony showing a powerful burst of pace to the line with some reluctant tackle attempts being brushed aside. Paul Nourse described his run as giving 300%. From an Abingdon scrum, Mats caught their scrum half and created turnover ball from which Tom again broke through to score his second.
Despite Abingdons increased efforts in the forwards, the Bicester runners were just too strong, exemplified by Antony who received the ball at No8 on the halfway line from a Bicester scrum, rode a tackle, paused for thought and then sprinted down the line to score in the corner. Abingdon tried to get points on the board by attempting a penalty kick from the half way line, a valiant attempt was on target but fell just short of the bar. Henry and Dan each scored again with Dan converting his own try. Thanks to loosehead Ollie Cass for entertaining us with an admirable performance playing at fullback.
Try Scorers: Tom Burrell (2), Antony Iveson (2), Henry Gayler and Dan Rowland
Conversions: Ben Jenks (5) and Dan Rowland
Friday, 12 December 2008
Where are Santa’s helpers….
Report by Paul Nourse
On a very cold, frosty and early Sunday morning Broad Street in Oxford was the venue for a most bizarre away fixture with the under 14’s (x30) supported by the coaching team, a sprinkling of parents and their other offspring all wearing their Santa outfits and false beards.
Cheered on by Fox FM’s Matt and Giselle, the excellent capella group 'Out of the Blue' and choirs from Magdalen College and Headington Schools the team warmed up for the ‘Santa’s on the Run’ 2 mile charity fun run with 1000 other runners out of Broad Street and around University Parks.
Tim Price was cheered across the line in a little over 12.5 mins in third position overall behind two very accomplished adult runners (well done Tim!!). The very sad thing is that he was not even out of breath. The second team member Cameron Fortin-Smith appeared moments later bounding towards the line as he often does from 5 meters out.
The crowd were aghast to then see the team manager Paul Gayler literally throwing himself towards the tape gasping for oxygen. A remarkable effort from Paul given that he was at least twice as old as any of those that passed the tape before him.
Callum McCulloch stormed over the line displaying a turn of speed not seen from him for the six weeks he had been laid up with a broken finger. He was closely pursued by Jack Stone and PJ Gardiner. Colin Mawdsley was the second adult home (in front of his son it must be said) being piped to the line by a last gasp sprint from Chris Nourse. Those listed (and perhaps a few other missing names) were in the top 30 runners across the line.
Thereafter, we lost count of who came where but needless to say the team’s fitness and competitive streak showed.
But alas Santa’s other adult helpers including the small one (who could only be heard) were nowhere to be seen (see picture below).’
Cheered on by Fox FM’s Matt and Giselle, the excellent capella group 'Out of the Blue' and choirs from Magdalen College and Headington Schools the team warmed up for the ‘Santa’s on the Run’ 2 mile charity fun run with 1000 other runners out of Broad Street and around University Parks.
Tim Price was cheered across the line in a little over 12.5 mins in third position overall behind two very accomplished adult runners (well done Tim!!). The very sad thing is that he was not even out of breath. The second team member Cameron Fortin-Smith appeared moments later bounding towards the line as he often does from 5 meters out.
The crowd were aghast to then see the team manager Paul Gayler literally throwing himself towards the tape gasping for oxygen. A remarkable effort from Paul given that he was at least twice as old as any of those that passed the tape before him.
Callum McCulloch stormed over the line displaying a turn of speed not seen from him for the six weeks he had been laid up with a broken finger. He was closely pursued by Jack Stone and PJ Gardiner. Colin Mawdsley was the second adult home (in front of his son it must be said) being piped to the line by a last gasp sprint from Chris Nourse. Those listed (and perhaps a few other missing names) were in the top 30 runners across the line.
Thereafter, we lost count of who came where but needless to say the team’s fitness and competitive streak showed.
But alas Santa’s other adult helpers including the small one (who could only be heard) were nowhere to be seen (see picture below).’
Other photos
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
The U14s are 'Santas on the Run'
42 players, coaches and a few parents have entered the 'Santas on the Run' charity event racing around Oxford City centre this Sunday 07 Dec. raising funds for the joint organisers 'Helen & Douglas House Hospice' and 'Fox FM Help an Oxfordshire Child'.
A great opportunity for the lads to do something positive for the community, turning their attention to children less fortunate than themselves, whilst hopefully having a lot of fun in the process.
If anyone outside of our age group would like to sponsor us, please contact Paul on 07828 297690.
Monday, 1 December 2008
Match Report v Reading Abbey 30 Nov
Bicester 26 v Reading Abbey 0
The foul weather was easily ignored with the added excitement and uncertainty of facing another Club for the first time. The loyal supporters were rewarded by an entertaining and well disciplined match with a high level of sportsmanship displayed by both teams. Bicester put in a confident team performance involving a high level of skill and resulting in another fine win.
The boys played for each other throughout, always looking for and providing support which created good continuity. The forwards were in fine form, worked hard as a unit, rucked strongly and quickly and found domination in the scrum. Some fine loose play had the opposition on the back foot. The backs were always looking to attack, taking quick options wherever possible and looked calm and assured in defence. Good decision making and tactical kicking punctuated play.
Bicester settled quickest and spent much of the opening period on the attack, a few early opportunities were knocked on. Abbey showed their intent by running a couple of penalties but met with stern defence and some big hits in the tackle. Abbey finding themselves under constant pressure, were penalised 5m from which Cameron F-S attempt was well defended. Dan Rowland had a kick and chase touched down by the fullback. The deadlock was finally broken when a quick penalty saw Henry break the line and offload to James Grosvenor who crossed for his first try for Bicester. Abbey rallied and enjoyed some good play in midfield but could not get into Bicesters 22. Pressure on the Abbey try line resulted in James going over from close range for his second try. HT: 14-0.
The second half saw controlled rugby by Bicester with very few errors. Abbey kept working hard at the task but Bicesters pressure in defence and swift counter attacks were relentless. One strong Abbey run was met with a big hit from Henry, Tim Price calmly dealt with anything kicked at him and when Abbeys kicks found touch the quick throw option out them back under pressure. From a scrum on halfway, Chris Nourse kicked over and Mats Venning was first up to turnover in the tackle. Mats found James in support then on to Henry who took it up the line before finding winger Tom Burrell on a great line to finish behind the posts.
The final score came from a scrum taken against the head, moved along the backs to Dan who with Robson outside him cut between the last two defenders to score in the corner. Late runs from Ben, Ollie Cassidy (at centre) and Robson were thwarted.
Well done to all.
Try Scorers: James Grosvenor (2), Tom Burrell and Dan Rowland
Conversions: Ben Jenks (2) and Dan Rowland
Players and Coaches Man of Match: James Grosvenor
The foul weather was easily ignored with the added excitement and uncertainty of facing another Club for the first time. The loyal supporters were rewarded by an entertaining and well disciplined match with a high level of sportsmanship displayed by both teams. Bicester put in a confident team performance involving a high level of skill and resulting in another fine win.
The boys played for each other throughout, always looking for and providing support which created good continuity. The forwards were in fine form, worked hard as a unit, rucked strongly and quickly and found domination in the scrum. Some fine loose play had the opposition on the back foot. The backs were always looking to attack, taking quick options wherever possible and looked calm and assured in defence. Good decision making and tactical kicking punctuated play.
Bicester settled quickest and spent much of the opening period on the attack, a few early opportunities were knocked on. Abbey showed their intent by running a couple of penalties but met with stern defence and some big hits in the tackle. Abbey finding themselves under constant pressure, were penalised 5m from which Cameron F-S attempt was well defended. Dan Rowland had a kick and chase touched down by the fullback. The deadlock was finally broken when a quick penalty saw Henry break the line and offload to James Grosvenor who crossed for his first try for Bicester. Abbey rallied and enjoyed some good play in midfield but could not get into Bicesters 22. Pressure on the Abbey try line resulted in James going over from close range for his second try. HT: 14-0.
The second half saw controlled rugby by Bicester with very few errors. Abbey kept working hard at the task but Bicesters pressure in defence and swift counter attacks were relentless. One strong Abbey run was met with a big hit from Henry, Tim Price calmly dealt with anything kicked at him and when Abbeys kicks found touch the quick throw option out them back under pressure. From a scrum on halfway, Chris Nourse kicked over and Mats Venning was first up to turnover in the tackle. Mats found James in support then on to Henry who took it up the line before finding winger Tom Burrell on a great line to finish behind the posts.
The final score came from a scrum taken against the head, moved along the backs to Dan who with Robson outside him cut between the last two defenders to score in the corner. Late runs from Ben, Ollie Cassidy (at centre) and Robson were thwarted.
Well done to all.
Try Scorers: James Grosvenor (2), Tom Burrell and Dan Rowland
Conversions: Ben Jenks (2) and Dan Rowland
Players and Coaches Man of Match: James Grosvenor
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