Eton Manor conceded the cup win to us, so we played Amersham in a friendly
instead

Sunday 16th October
Amersham 56 – Chingford 12

With Eton Manor conceding the cup game, the fixture against Amersham was
hastily arranged in its place. We knew going into the match that Amersham
would be a good test – we met them a the end of season tournament where they
just beat us, and they went on the play their B team in the final, so a lot
of talent would be on show !
The game started very well for us with Ching attacking their half, and
Amersham being forced to concede penalty after penalty. After 7 minutes of
pressure, Ching had nothing to show and Amersham kicked the ball deep. They
managed to secure possession, and some good fast passing saw them score the
first try. At 12 minutes they won a good scrum, and once again spun the ball
out wide to score a further try. Despite Ching competing well, Amersham were
able to secure possession from a line-out on 15 mins and score their 3rd try
to lead 15-0.
Once again Ching were attacking their line, when Amersham again kicked deep,
and the chaser managed to tackle our player and force the ball over for
their 4th try. Ching again were superb at rucking the ball, and winning 2nd
phase possession, however were being stopped in mid-field. The half was
brought to an end with another Amersham score, this time from a line-out
which they secured from half way and once again got quick ball out to their
backs. HT 25-0
Ching started the 2nd half very strongly and won a penalty in the first
minute which they elected to kick. Unfortunately Matts kick went wide. Ching
kept the pressure up and got very close to line. Ching were awarded a
penalty which Sam Robbens tapped and passed to Sam Fitzgerald who forced his
way over with Matt converting. Amersham then attacked the Ching line, and
some great defence by Will and the forwards managed to keep them at bay. At
9 mins Ching won a scrum in their own 22 and Sam got clean ball to Reece and
Ben who beat his man, running the ball into the 22 before being caught. From
the field possession Ching attacked the Amersham line, and after a couple of
penalties were conceded, the referee yellow carded the Amersham player. From
the penalty, Sam Robbens again tapped the penalty and the forwards drove to
the line. Max picked up from the base of the ruck and dotted down to cut
Amershams lead to 25-12. The last quarter of the game belonged to Amersham
who’s strong running backs and intelligent play produced 5 trys to secure a
good win.
Overall a good run out for the boys who learnt a lot from a side that was
filled with county level players. It was pleasing that despite this talent
Ching dominated the first and third quarters, but unlike Amersham did not
score enough points when they were given the opportunity

Sam Fitzgerald, Will McGillivray, Peter Young, Jordan Hillier, James Willis,
Max Rabey (c), Sam Robbens, Reece Daltrey, Conor Monaghan, Matt Lumb, Ben
Maru, Charlie Wilkes, Jack Johnson, Nick Arnold, Brandon Cox, Ellis
Flaherty, Patrick Love