Chips give em Ell and take their rings

So with 2 wins on the bounce, Chips had a rest from the league ,and focus this week turned to round 2 of RFU Junior Vase with a trip to take on the unknown quantity of Ellingham & Ringwood on the outskirts of the New Forest.
We like our own old Forrest better. So with such a big cup game, obviously, all of our players had gone to bed early and not gone out till the early hours of Saturday morning. With the injury crisis easing Adam Hollidge was back from his concussion layoff, however we were still missing about 6 usual starting player's, which opened open chances for our wider squad to impress coach Harrison May & DOR Chey Dupe. Liam Wilson made his 1st team debut coming off the bench , pretty impressive with only 4 games of rugby under his belt.

The Dupe family cooked bacon rolls at the club ahead of the 10.15 meet time but that time came and went with only 5 players arriving - it wasn't off to the greatest start. Nearly all players were there by the time that the coach arrived, all but 2, Piers and his father naughty Nigel who live no more than 1 minute from the club were holding us up. But wait a mysterious text message from Harry Mac saying he was now available. All on board and strict no alcohol policy in place apart from one traveling supporter who was making it up for most of us. Players listened to music or watched videos - Some were even stars in the videos.... others text loved ones while others begged for newly broken hearts to forgive them and take them back. (We love mads).
As soon as we hit the m25 we were at a complete standstill as a crash had occurred. All the rest of the journey occured without incident but we cut it pretty fine as we arrived at the hosts for today Ellingham. & Ringwood. Straight into the changing rooms and outside for warm up , not great but we knew what we had to do . It started raining just before kick-off but with a short pitch to play on we knew it would help out our older members of the forwards. Si Martin was handed the kicking responsibilities for the day and he duly obliged to that role. Game kicked off and it was evident from the start the forwards would control the game for Chipstead as we won nearly all scrums whether our put in or theirs. From a kick to the corner and for a 2nd week in a row a try of g&t, they are like buses none come for years and now 2 in 2 weeks this week the receiptant was myself as I powered over from 5 yards out. Si first kick at goal for the conversion and it don't go great , Forrest was getting ready with his pink tee.

Give credit where it was due to the hosts they weren't having a great time at the scrum but they used the ball wisely and effectively with their rapid wingers when they did recieve it. Captain Loz was stopping dead most attacks with thundering hits for anyone that dared to enter the centre's channel. His opposite number obviously has used his excessively big body to bully people before but not today and he was cut down to size many times mainly due his lack of adequate footwork.
Ellingham got up to speed and with the ref smoking hot on his whistle at the breakdown , captain Loz was called over and told to warn his team that anymore penalties in the red zone and we would be seeing his collection of pokemon cards. Next attack from the hosts and our captain was summoned and shown the pikachu coloured card in the collection and was taking a 10 minute break. So down to 14 and E&R got a try but conversion was missed.

It was a back and forward contest for the rest of the half with a penalty on the half way line just to the right and no1 kicker Si Martin stepped up and curled it in like Beckham. The hosts responded with a penalty of their own and that was the half. 8-8

So all to play for on the road to Twickenham and after Battersea Ironsides from our league went and won the whole competition last year , the pressure is on to keep it in the Surrey County. Team Talk discussed and changes made. the bench was emptied and Ben Gilbert in only his 2nd appearance for the firsts impressed after some excellent displays in the 2s and commitment in training. George Moody may not be our sharpest tool at our leafy village club but he can sure jump at a lineout and tackle with avengance. Kyle Smith made the scrum continue to walk the oppo back at a rate of knots. With the scrum so dominant the DOR was held back for emergencies only.

The backs weren't getting a lot of ball out to the wings and we struggled at times to deal with their pacy back 3 but our youngsters will learn from this experience and were helped out by brillant scramble defence that we know we can rely on.
With our forwards now using the ball and upper hand and the hosts trying to slow us down they got a yellow card so we ent to the corner and they illegally dropped it again so another player went for a breather. So the oppo had 13 players and were going backwards at the scrum so we opted for a scrum but the ball hobbled straight to the retreating back and they gave good hands along their own tryline to the aforementioned gas man who sprinted the whole length of the pitch. high risk and high reward which payed off. That was a demoralizing blow for a yesteryear Chipstead but not this young non- fearing side and we knew we had enough firepower to see this game out. Luckily they missed the conversion from out wide in these blustery conditions it was to be expected.

So 13-8 to the hosts who must of thought they were up against after the try in the first couple of minutes, back to a full complement of players and they hadn't conceded was good going as according to stats a yellow card can be worth 7 points and we hadn't scored any. After a good charge up field by Ben Gilbert , we got a scrum on the 5m line and there was only 1 call needed as 'walkies' was whispered and it duly delievered when they went back so quickly that the ref had no choice but to award a penalty try and a quick conversion by Si Martin taking his total up to 8 for the day. So 15-13 with 17 minutes to play. The hosts threw everything at us and quite literally we mean thrown mostly misses though. The hostile crowd took a disliking to me but everybody really loves pantomime villains really deep down as they went close to the line on many occasions but I thwarted a couple with perfectly timed jackals and turnovers. Backs to the wall time and we cleared the ball only for Liam Wilson to be standing in an offside position , the screams of no could of been heard back in Chipstead or Elements but he didn't listen as he picked the ball up without a care in the world. penalty awarded and Liam could of cost his team the match on debut. But we are a tight knit family ask Aimee Squares, and we would help him make the situation right as we win and lose as a team. They went for the corner but a perfectly timed jump by boz got the steal. Lines cleared and up the other end for si to curl in with his perfectly timed nudge dissecting the up rights and a 18-13 lead. 1 more penalty was needed to secure victory and progression in the cup. 10 minutes to go and Boz went down like a spider down a drainpipe and was carried off.

Ellingham made 1 last break for the win from their own half but was brought down by a last ditch tackle and got smoothered by Alex Cooksley who as always goes about his business quietly. Alex Cannon and Adam Hollidge also carried well and marshalled the back of the scrum. I had a conversation with Loz Harrison about keeping the ball and he said he knew it and had it under control. It got a little heated but I think that was because people wanted to be close to each other to keep warm in the cold conditions. We got down to the hosts end with 2 mins to play on the 22 and we look up from a scrum to see Captain Loz try a drop goal that would of secured victory but this one bobbled along the floor right into the arms of the opponents , now I knew what he meant when he said he had it under control ! A couple more scrums and the final whistle was blown. A game we should of win more easily with the dominance but the hosts were brilliant adversaries and can be pleased of their performance and we wish them luck in their Hampshire 1 campaign.

Celebratory and well deserved ciders of the canned variety were had in the 5 freezing cold Showers but we got the job done - mission get to twickers was a go ! With more players to return it could be a nice little cup run as the wendyballers like to call it.

We went back to the 'teetotal' booze free bus - Yeh right. We had crowdsurfing with a twist and a nice stop over in a service station where Kyle and I reminisced after last years trip there. Kfc, McDonald's and papa John's were eaten and prosecco popped. Back on the last bit of the journey back to #fortressmeads . So after a 10.15 start we returned back in our picturesque little village at gone 7 and a day to remember for all. The White Hart kindly let us set up in the front garden to educate our new coach Harrison, physio Jane and new players Liam Wilson, Ben Gilbert and George Moody how to play drinking games Chipstead style. Plus we found out Mr Captain Happy can't play them either to say we were disappointed was an understatement. So the draw takes place on Wednesday to see whether we play host or we need another #boozebus to take us on our quest for silverware.

3 wins now on the bounce for the 1s and we look to make it 4 next week when we take on Law Society Away with a 2:15 kick-off.
While the 2s look to make it 3 wins on the bounce and to protect #fortressmeads from London Media also a 2:15 kick-off come and support the boys home or away.

Update: Michael Mason aka Boris has been diagnosed with a bug that causes him to eat a lot and his knees can no longer carry his rig, so gave way in our recent cup match we wish him a speedy recovery on his current fight against this prognosis.

Ryan Dupe