St Hugh’s 12 Pinewood 7
The old boys’ match between St Hugh’s and old rivals Pinewood took place on a glorious Autumn Sunday on Pinewood’s new impressive Rugby ground. The match, which was played for what will become the Oxford Wine Company Cup, was a well organised and impressive fixture and great credit must go to Jim Bischoff who laid on a splendid occasion followed by the legendary Pinewood tea and buckets of wholesome nourishing real ale. A huge crowd enjoyed the reawakening of old acquaintances and for many it was indeed a time warp. The evergreen Bob Avery was in charge and still reverently referred to as ‘sir’.
Any suggestion that this was simply a bit of fun was soon expelled as the teams warmed up and prepared in a thoroughly professional manner. St Hugh’s suffered a few late changes and had just the 15 players while Pinewood produced a squad and back up team that Sir Clive Woodward would have been proud of! This allowed them to roll on subs throughout the game but may ultimately have been their downfall as their patterns of play were disrupted. St Hugh’s, however, despite suffering the odd injury, managed to develop as a unit and became stronger as the game went on.
The game started at a furious pace and, although played in a fine spirit, it was obvious from the start that this was no game for the faint hearted. The tackling was ferocious and neither team were able to break down the opposition’s defence. St Hugh’s were certainly under pressure for long periods and only some monster clearing kicks from fly half Chris Sandbach relieved the pressure on many occasions. However as the game developed the backs, and in particular Sam Cover and George Boggis, made some probing runs which augured well for the second half and James Blanchard, a makeshift scrum half was providing an important link and beginning to probe round the base of the set pieces.
The game was pointless at the interval. Jim bought on the Port for half time but this was barely touched by the St Hugh’s lads who clearly were not in the mood for any frivolity. This was a serious occasion and there was a game to be won.
The second half continued in the same vein and Pinewood deservedly scored a well executed converted try early on. At this stage they were looking strong but the multiple changes during the second half did not have the desired effect and the St Hugh’s forwards, with the Jackson brothers to the fore, began to produce some good ball which allowed the backs to be creative, especially in midfield. With 20 minutes to go Sam Cover made a clean break down the middle and remained calm when unloading to the excellent support play of Tom Vaughan–Fowler who went in at the corner. The try was not converted and the game reached a level of massive intensity as St Hugh’s continued to press for the winning points. The forwards rumbled up field with Harry Osborne, Rob Gurney and Edward Pym leading the charge and finally the ball was fed to Tom Vaughan- Fowler, who had a splendid, all round game. Tom outstripped the defence to score under the posts and Chris Sandbach duly converted to take St Hugh’s into a slender 5 point lead.
However any suggestion that Pinewood would roll over was soon expelled as they pounded the St Hugh’s line and the defence and commitment was unbelievable. Finally time ran out on this splendid game which was brought to a close by the impressive Wilts Society referee.
A huge thank you to all those who made the effort to play and support. Some had travelled the length of the country and the commitment to the St Hugh’s cause would have made Derek Cannon a proud man. This was especially true for the likes of Will Amy and Stuart Holmwood who, without being acknowledged Rugby stars, both made a great contribution to the team performance.
Ted Sandbach
Team: Newell, Amey, Vaughan– Fowler, Cover (Capt), Boggis, Sandbach, Blanchard, Jackson, Orpwood, Pym, Jackson, Harrison, Gurney, Holmwood, Osbourne.
