Hawkins is on target (11.12.04)

MAIDS notched up another excellent two-point win over higher-placed South West Division 1 opponents when they narrowly beat Chinnor on Saturday.
They were eventuallly triumphant by three penalties and a converted try to three penalties and a try, and as the game wore on they became worthier winners and would probably have won more easily had the game gone on.
Chinnor began strongly and missed an early opportunity to score when, with a man over, they dropped the ball. With a huge pack it was obviously going to be an interesting tactical battle and in the first half the main means of attack for Chinnor was for large fly-half Cathcart to hoof the ball high in the air for his forwards to run onto.
On one such occasion Maids full-back Rob Hawkins caught cleanly but was penalised for not releasing and Chinnor took an early lead with a penalty.
Strong running by Simon Cripps put Chinnor under pressure who conceded a penalty which Hawkins converted to level proceedings, and underscored that this match was likely to be a battle between Chinnor’s pack and the Maids’ backs.
The giant Chinnor locks Burrows and Hutchins made sure that the home side won plenty of ball in the lineouts, but their half-backs, Jacobs and Cathcart, looked shaky under pressure from tenacious Maids tackling led by the latest product of the McDonald-Evans Colts production line Will Lowdon (Bath Academy and Scotland under 19s).
He made a startlingly successful debut at No.7 and hopefully will become available on a regular basis – his Bristol University studies permitting.
Cormac O’Byrne received a yellow card for an apparently innocuous offence and the Maids pack was immediately put under pressure and a break by Shaw, the most dangerous of the home team backs, led to an unconverted try in the corner by Oxley to put Chinnor in the lead 8-3.
Wrong attacking options by the Chinnor half-backs kept Maids in the game but just before half-time, Cathcart increased the home side’s lead with a simple penalty for 11-3.
The question was whether the smaller Maids forwards would be able to win enough ball to give the backs a chance. The reply came when Paul Jones, who together with Jacques Botha was winning more lineout ball with athletic one-handed takes, won a clean lineout just inside the Chinnor half. Text book passing by Ben Ayres, Mark Ruddick and McKay gave Hammond the chance to scorch over for a brilliant try near the posts converted by Hawkins.
Maids’ forwards were coming more into the game and McKay made a long run with his own brand of side-stepping trickery only to be stopped before the line, but which set up Hawkins for a good penalty half way out to put Maids in the lead.
Intelligent kicking by fly-half Ruddick and a powerful muscular performance by Ayres kept Maids on the offensive but in a rare Chinnor attack Cathcart put the home side in front again with another penalty.
With their big pack Chinnor made huge chunks of ground but even though they would gain 25 yards they were always too far from the Maids line.
If the home fly-half had kicked to the corner Maids would have found it difficult to have prevented a try or two from rolling mauls, but with the pack winning more ball in the middle of the park McKay and Hammond were able to put Cripps away who almost scored on two or three occasions.
Eventually the visitors won a penalty way-out on the home five-yard line. Impressively Hawkins slotted another match-winning penalty to give Maids a hugely satisfying victory.
Lowdon won man of the match with his impressive debut in the back row with Hawkins, Hammond and McKay not far behind, but overall this was a real top team performance.