Match report courtesy of the

Saturday 15th December 2007

WARREN Abrahams scored all of Maids' 25 points as they held high-flying Chinnor to a pulsating draw at Braywick on Saturday.

On a bitterly cold December afternoon that demanded the presence of men and not boys, an injury-ravaged Maids took this challenge head on and emerged with huge credit. Chinnor who had beaten Maids by 50 points, just four weeks ago, found Maids a very different animal this time around. Maids' pack, who had been pushed around in the corresponding fixture, were superb on the day.

The score hardly tells the full story of the game, nor of the ferocity of the battle and the excellence that the home team achieved in the defence against a team who had won all but one of their games this season.

Maids signalled their intentions from the off. The pack, bolstered by the sizeable presence of Richard Hoskins, competed superbly with the visitors from the first scrum. Maids were stubborn in defence and gradually worked their way into the contest, not through their backs but through the endeavour of their pack. Alex Gallina was superb for Maids in the line-out, and his first catch set the platform for the forwards to produce a perfectly controlled drive which gave a hint of what was to come.

But Maids were forced to wait until the 16th minute for their opening score, Alex Cannon finding Simon Swadling whose half-break allowed Richie Craig to burst into space. He kept his composure and offloaded to Abrahams who came charging past him to score a try which he then converted. Maids extended their lead, five minutes later Gareth Edwards' half-break found Cannon, he slipped the ball to Abrahams who went over in the corner to give Maids a 12-0 lead.

But Chinnor gradually began to find their rhythm after 30 minutes of this absorbing encounter. Their cause was helped hugely when Nick Kertesz was sin-binned for being offside at the scrum. James Cathcart gobbled up the chance to kick Chinnor's first points of the half from the resulting penalty. Buoyed by the score Chinnor went in search of a try, and found Maids' midfield defence in festive mood, Jaike Carter blasting his way through the half-hearted tackles to score a straightforward try three minutes later which Cathcart converted.

But Chinnor's revival received a set-back just as it was getting going, flanker Andrew Maguire, ensured it was 14 versus 14 when he was sin-binned for excessive use of the boot at a ruck just before the break. Abrahams slotted the resulting penalty as a breathless half ended 15-10. If spectators were worried the second-half would fail to match the first-half fireworks their fears were allayed within nine minutes of the restart.

Chinnor levelled the scores with a marvellous long-range try, the elusive Pip Seymour outstripping the Maids defence to score. Abrahams restored Maids lead three minutes later with a simple penalty as Maids began to regain some measure of control in the pack. Mark Mueller led stoutly and without fuss in a pack whose working parts started to purr nicely. The line-out once again provided the foundation for Maids, quick ball off the top allowed the backs to burst into life, and once again it was Abrahams who took the pass and scorched in under the posts. He converted to give Maids a 25-15 lead.

But Chinnor weren't done, Seymour, their most dangerous attacking weapon all afternoon, brought his side back into the game with 20 minutes remaining, chipping over Will Lowden, gathering the kick and outpacing the cover defence for a superb score. Cathcart missed the difficult conversion but Chinnor were within touching distance at 25-20.

The final bruising period was hard-fought but neither side looked capable of showing the composure needed to score that crucial try. Both sides had chances, but it was Seymour who once again proved Maids' downfall, he broke clear of tacklers.

He was eventually brought down, but as Chinnor recycled Maids were short of numbers out wide and Maguire went over in the corner to level the scores. Cathcart's conversion sailed wide, and Maids hang on to a precious point.

Maids: Carter, Lowden, Abrahams, Swadling, Cannon (Standfast, 64), MacDonald, Edwards, O¹Byrne, Craig, Hoskins (Thomas, 63), Babich, Mueller, Gallina, Kertesz (Thomas, 69), Riley.