Presidents Lunch and Reunion of Former Players Sat 9th April

PINNER & GRAMMARIANS RFC Ltd

cordially invites you to the

PRESIDENT’S LUNCH

and

REUNION OF FORMER PLAYERS

on

SATURDAY 9^th APRIL

BAR OPENS 12 noon

LUNCH at 1 pm

Pelicans v Old Isleworthians RFC 2pm K.O.

1^st XV v Old Isleworthians 3 pm K.O.

Renew acquaintances with old friends

Support the 1^st XV in their final league match of the season

Please bring photos and memorabilia

Wives, partners and friends very welcome

Please pass this on to any former Pinner players

with whom you are in contact

3 course lunch £20 per head

After the success of last year’s event we are hoping for an even bigger turn out this time around.  Having been promoted for two seasons in succession the 1st XV is comfortably in the top half of Herts / Midds Div 2. We are pretty sure the opposition will turn up for the last league match of this season.  The Pelicans [2nd XV] has been resurrected and in recent weeks has record convincing wins over Belsize Park and Harrow.
Please convey this invitation to any other past players and members. I hope to see you on the 9th April. An early reply would help with our planning.

For booking in:

Dave Hiles at 31, Lulworth Close, S. Harrow HA2 9NR

or by E-mail to:  david@thehiles.co.uk or telephone 020 8864 0787

Cheques to P&G RFC beforehand would be appreciated

Injured ref puts pay to Pinner certain victory

Ickenham versus Pinner 1^st XV Saturday 26^th February

On a miserable Saturday afternoon Pinner travelled to local rivals Ickenham to complete the double over them this season, making up for the late one point victory the opponents had at the end of last season. Both promoted teams have had a mixed season with Pinner exceeding their expected position with Ickenham not fulfilling theirs; this was going to be a close contested game, especially with the captain Reza Sibilant flying direct from Miami!

With a few injuries and many players away it was great to see that Pinner could still put out a full squad, combining youth (Lee and Alex) with experience (Gigsy, who played with the Pelicans last weekend and has got back within the fold, playing in his trusted role as hooker – it was noticed by a number of spectators how he hadn’t lost it and ‘dinked’ the ball against the head in many of the scrums)

With the pitch really heavy under foot, Pinner who have an excellent running game had to change tack, work undertaken by the pack was going to be pivotal in ensuing Pinner procession and back play.

The first ten minutes saw both teams trying to work the ball through the sticky conditions with handling errors on both sides, culminating in a series of scrums, which demonstrated the power of the Pinner pack who dominated an experienced Ickenham front row. Play was mainly contained within ten metres of the halfway line until Ickenham broke free and headed towards the Pinner twenty two, a rolling maul then followed but Pinner regained procession and with a superb kick from David Luiz put Pinner back deep into the oppositions twenty two. From the line out the ball was passed out wide along the centres and into the hands of winger Timoci Tabua  (Jim) who side stepped the Ickenham fullback to run in Pinners first try (it was noticed by the growing number of supporters that he had been watching Ashton scoring his trademark tries and raised his arm in celebration before crossing the line, it didn’t go down to well!!). The conversion attempt was missed, leaving the score at 5-0

This, strengthened Pinners attack and within three minutes of the restart a fine run from Richard, who whilst being excellently tackled managed to pass the ball to David Luiz who ran along the touchline carrying the ball some twenty metres before laying it off to Reza Sibilant who struck for the line only for the Ickenham defence to hold up the ball, no try awarded.

The game had sprung into life and Pinners running game was clearly winning the battle, a lovely passing move saw fullback for the day, Sibilant, being body checked by an Ickenham centre who was awarded a yellow card for his actions, Ickenham down to fourteen men, then within a space of three minutes, another yellow card, this time for handling in a ruck, Ickenham down to thirteen, one prop down, the scrums were now going to uncontested much to the irritation of the pack who were winning every encounter. Pinner were on the ascendency, with eight minutes before half time they could already sense victory and if the truth be told, Ickenham looked defeated, men down, over run in the pack and Pinner making the best of an extremely muddy pitch still playing stylish rugby.

It was at this point, a surreal event – the ref went down, his hamstring pulled, carried off and laid on a tackle back to set about the task of getting up and back on the pitch. Half time was signalled; it was apparent that the ref was going to be unable to continue, could a stand in ref be used/found, what were the official recommendations? Frantic phone calls were made to Pinner Gurus and the RFU. The final decision was that the match had to be abandoned/ postponed, leaving a very disappointed Pinner walking off the pitch. With the bit between their teeth, the feeling that a certain victory was theirs it was a bitter pill to swallow, you can be certain that the re-match will be one not to be missed

Saturday, 26 February 2011
Ickenham	P	Pinner & Grammarians
Old Isleworthians	20 – 10	Uxbridge
Old Millhillians	63 – 0	Old Merchant Taylors’
Royston	59 – 7	Old Tottonians

Herts/Middlesex 2	Short Format Long Format
Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Millhillians 17 16 0 1 498 162 336 9 73 0 Old Merchant Taylors’ 17 11 2 4 455 255 200 12 60 0 Belsize Park 16 11 1 4 360 213 147 9 55 0 Royston 17 10 1 6 301 178 123 9 51 0 Ickenham 15 8 1 6 247 165 82 7 42 0 Pinner & Grammarians 15 8 0 7 303 314 -11 7 39 0 Old Isleworthians 15 8 0 7 296 295 1 3 35 0 London French 15 4 0 11 224 267 -43 7 23 0 Uxbridge 16 4 0 12 247 468 -221 3 19 0 Quintin 15 3 1 11 183 337 -154 5 19 0 Old Tottonians 16 1 0 15 102 562 -460 1 0 -5

Pinner Mini Section visit Old Abbotstonians for the first time with match report

This Sunday saw Pinner Mini Section travel over to Old Abbotstonians for their first ever visit, with Slough RFC coming along to it was set to be an interesting morning of rugby. However, with half term upon us, a stand-in friendly fixture was not going to draw in the numbers Pinner have had recently, as many had holiday commitments and the luxury of having an abundance of substitutes wasn’t going to be apparent.

Under 11/12’s

The first part of the training session saw the boys practicing catching the high ball (as the kicking game is now firmly fixed within their matches), learning to create a bread-bin and standing sideways to catch the ball all achieved this with success. It was at this point that we heard that Slough U11’/12’s would not be arriving, shame, as a return game against them would have been fun (last time out a superb victory to Pinner)

With both teams deciding to carry on training, the four Pinner coaches directed a skills session in running at pace and passing – the old boys still have it!

This was repeated by the players, building up confidence in passing along the line without having to slow down – something used to great effect in the game later.

Then onto to scrum practice – and to be honest with our front row of Ben, Jacob and Jake it looked menacing, and during the match this proved correct; dominating every scrum with power and driving the opposition across the park! (well the prohibited meters allowed!)

With a number of players not available, the task ahead looked grim, with a total of eight Pinner players, Old Abbotstonians offered one of their players, in truth, he wasn’t required, the boys happily wanted to play 8 against their 12

From the kick Pinner collected the ball and with straight running and slick passing found themselves within touching distance of the try line, Kai making a 30 meter run, side stepping and dodging flailing tackles only to put the ball down 1metre short of the line (a little confusion where the actual try line was!) from the restart, Pinner attacked, the pack powering through the defence to secure the first try. It was beautifully converted by Jake Larman, one of many this morning.

The catching practice certainly paid off, as with each kick of the ball a Pinner player caught it cleanly and made a driving run, fully supported by their team mates, in both ruck and mauls the boys were well drilled and organised with scrum half Thomas calling the shots and passing it out wide when ever he got the chance. In recent weeks, the coaches have made a decision not to shout out instructions from the touchline, allowing the boys to sort out their own attacking and defending lines, making the calls themselves, this has proved very successful and many of the skills/discussions that had been given by the coaches were evident in open play. By the whistle for the end of the first half Pinner were in a very comfortable position, I think at least four tries up.

During the half time talk, the decision was made to change the format of the game in the second half. We had proved that we over powered the opposition, our strong tackling meant they were not to keen on retaining the ball and the direct running of the pack had dominated most of the play. As this was a friendly fixture/training game, it was geared towards the improving and developing all players skills and not about winning, against a much less experienced team; it is important that all players felt positive at the end of the match and that all walked off the pitch having gained a good experience, learnt something new and most importantly had fun. It was suggested that we played our fast passing game, using the width of the pitch to open up the match.

When the whistle blew for the second half, the ball was kicked deep into Pinner territory, a great catch from Brendon and three quick passes saw Kai run the length of the pitch to score another try, again, converted by Jake. The plan took full effect, and at times some magnificent rugby was witnessed by not only the parents who travelled over to Hayes but by the impressed coaches who, whilst standing on the touchline remaining very quiet could be seen with very wide grins.

When the final whistle blew, Pinner were convincing winners; 35-0

This is the third match in a row that this squad has won, each time getting more convincing and with this display and with players short it looks like its going to by an exciting couple of months at Pinner RFC Mini Section.

Special mention should go to all the players who played today:

Carl – running straight at the opposition, made excellent ground for the team to convert into try scoring positions

Ben – great work in the scrum, driving runs with power and some really nifty passing

Brendon – unsung hero, always there in the breakdown, ability to take the ball into the defence and retain it, excellent tackling

Alex – lonely job on the wing first half, second half showed that when he has the ball he can perform some magic, unlucky not to score a try

Jacob – great work in the scrum and line out, positional play and calling was very good, some of the thumping tackles made during the game

Kai – superb fullback play, grace and speed when running with the ball and an awareness of where the support is, if only they could keep up with you!

Thomas – excellent scrum half work, darting runs, scorer of tries and for keeping positive throughout the match!

Man of the match: Jake Larman – try scorer, conversions and great running, passing and as per usual tackling.

Under 10’s

The under 10s had a great session today. Sadly no Abbots team but luckily slough were there as opposition we trained on running in line and passing a basic which has been lacking from our game. After some determination the training clicked with the players and they all looked good. We then moved in to game play Pinner verses slough 2 slough players made up our numbers thank you to them. The game was a match of 2 halves the first with Pinner able to run the ball almost at will. The score at half time was 3 to 0 for Pinner. The second half was much tougher hard tackles good running and mauling the passing made the game a great and very different one to watch. The score of the half was 2-1 to Pinner.  The well deserved player of the week for Pinner was Cameron who really got involved tackling running with the ball ripping the ball and much more which we’d not seen that often from Cameron keep it up the parents and your team mates were all very impressed with you. Another player to mention is Joseph who also moved forward in this game a good attempt at a tackle which stopped a certain try how even if it was a tadge high keep the efforts up. Well done to all my team By Paul Parker-Brice

Protected: Mini Section away @ OldAbbotstonians Sunday 20th February

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Pinner Pelicans 34-10 victory versus Harrow RFC 2nd’s Match report and photos

On a great day for Pinner RFC putting out two sides which hasn’t happened for a few years, Pinner Pelicans out played local rivals Harrow in an entertaining and muddy game of rugby. Currently awaiting the match report courtesy of ‘Sir’ Les but in the meantime here are some of the images from the game, thanks to stand in photographers Jo and JJ. Enjoy, many of these I feel will end up as profile pictures on FB! time is ticking; who will be the first!!

Here it is, hot off the press

Pinner Pelicans V Harrow 2nds/Vets 19^th Feb 2011

On a day when the heavens opened and was fit for the ducks, Pinner sent out two teams at home for the first time in years. A momentous day for the club.

The rain stopped about an hour before the Pelicans game was due for kick off, so it was decided that they would play a running game. Well that was the idea.

The ref had done all his briefing and the toss was made, Pinner Pelicans would kick off, with Harrow having to borrow a couple of Legends from the Pinner subs bench to make up a full 15.

Within the first few minutes the Pelicans went on the rampage with forwards and backs combining cleverly together to go over for the first try, debutant John Kelly scoring close to the posts. What a try; a real beauty. Was this a first taste of Baa Baas rugby for the afternoon?

Paul James narrowly missing the conversion. 5- 0

From the resulting kick off Pinner again collected and started passing the ball through the hands of the forwards and backs, Harrow had no answer at this stage of the game.

From a Pinner scrum and a big push scrum half Graeme Searle passed the ball out to the backs, Paul to Olly to John, forwards in support driving onwards to the try line,

The Pinner Pelicans got closer and closer to the Harrow try line and Graeme picked up the ball and threw the ball over the line for a try or was it. No video ref here boys, Graeme gets up and sees the try has been given, a wry smile says it all. Paul converts making the score 12 – 0. It looks as if it is going to be a cricket score but this was soon to change. The ref says that we will go into uncontested scrums as one of harrow props has hurt his neck.

Tactically very clever of Harrow, as Pinner had dominated all the scrums.

Now we realized why they had done this, they used the uncontested scrums for the No8 to try and power his way through the Pinner side, using his large hand palming off many tacklers he gave Harrow hope.

The game became a bruising encounter with rucks and mauls getting out of control, resulting in a bad cut for Mark, raking they shouted and they knew who it was, but hey this is a tough game, Pinner sub Ralph Carney sprinted onto the pitch for his 1^st game of the season. Harrow now had some possession, using their back row to create holes they moved the ball wide but powerful tackling stopped Harrows backs from crossing the line.

Pumped up Pinner drove forward and with a powerful play in the Harrow 22 moved the ball left, through the backs out to Les who passed to Josh, Josh took contact, but with the forwards there in abundance Andy Wright picked up the ball drew his man and passed to Sean Matthews who dived over the line. Great try. 17 -0.

Paul again narrowly missing the conversion.

The ref blows the whistle for half time.

Encouraging signs for Pinner, but they knew a battle was at hand. They gathered together for some rousing words.

2^nd half starts and what was to be a pulsating half with Harrow pounding the Pinner line for about 20 minutes with strong runs from their forwards, they were held up twice. Unbelievably strong tackling by Pinner was the only thing holding up Harrow. By now though the Pinner boys were fired up, the game became loose with handling errors everywhere because of the weather but once again clever play by the Pinner forwards resulted in a try. From a scrum the ball moved out to the backs then back into the forwards and Nick ran in for a try. Paul James converted 24 – 0. Pinner back on track? not really, Harrow barnstormed their way back, with some powerful play again with their No8 creating havoc only a huge tackle from Josh stopping him going over for a try. From the resulting ruck the ball went to Harrow’s No7 who went over for a try. The conversion was missed. 24 – 5

The game became tough, hard tackling, handling errors and brutal at times, but Pinner were never going to let this lead slip.

Harrow were winning most of the line out ball, so kicking was not going to work, so once again with ball in hands from a maul, Giles Hayward (Giggsy to his mates) managed to weave his way through a melee of players and scored in the corner. Great try (I’m sure he ran at least 50 metres for that one) Paul just missed the conversion, great try though. 29 – 5.

But Harrow were in no mood to give in, they bombarded the Pinner line again with some strong forward play, and then they released their backs for another try. Conversion hit the post and went the wrong way. 29 – 10 This try seem to give them more hope, but Pinner were not going to let them have this, more handling errors led to some exciting stuff, the ball bouncing all over the place.

Going into the final 15 minutes, Pinner new another try would clinch it, another powerful play from the front row, driving the ball forward, pick up and play from back row Gordon Morris, he collected the ball, moved it out to the backs went through the hands, with John held up, the ball went loose, Giggsy picked the ball up with one hand and once again set off for the try line, dancing his way through a couple of defenders he went over for another try, Pinner cheering him on. The conversion was missed 34-10.

One more thing to say about the game, in the final 5 minutes Pinner came up with the play of the game, an uncontested scrum in the Harrow half, the came out to Paul James who heard the screaming winger Glynn wanting the ball on his inside, a beautiful lateral pass sent Glynn in scoring under the posts only for the Ref to blow up for a forward pass. What a crowning moment that would have been.

Special mention goes to our friends from Uxbridge (If I have got your names wrong I did say that I would forget them after 5 minutes and this report was done on Sunday) and to Pinner Legends Gavyn, Jamie and Chris, for helping Harrow have a full team.

Final Score: 34-10

Well done everyone MOTM (Ollie) Cock Gordo

Team1/ Phil 2/ James 3/ Sean 4/ Ralph (Mark) 5/ Nick 6/ Andy (Tim) 7/ Giggsy 8/ Gordo 9/ Graeme 10/ Paul

11/ Josh 12/ Ollie 13/ John 14/ Niall (Glynn) 15/ Les

1st XV victory over Uxbridge RFC 15-14 its a muddy one (photos)and match report

The wet conditions and increasingly muddy playing pitch saw Pinner 1st Xv plough their way to victory. In the first instance here are some images from the game; courtesy of Jo & JJ. The match report will be live and available within the next 48 hours….

Here’s the match report:

Depleted Pinner win again

Pinner, without several key players including skipper Reza Sibilant, fought a dogged rearguard action against local Herts / Middx 2 rivals Uxbridge to come from behind to win 15 – 14.  Heavy overnight rain meant that food holds were uncertain and handling was difficult.  Acting captain Simon Whitcombe showed early intend with a strong run into the Uxbridge 22. The visitors killed the ball to concede a penalty to put P&G’s 3 – 0 up after 10 minutes.  Pinner then relaxed letting Uxbridge have more of the game. On the quarter hour fine interplay between the visiting fly-half and centres caught P&G’s defence napping to allow the number 10 to score under the posts. He then added the conversion to put Uxbridge ahead 7 – 3.  Pinner mounted a series of attacks which fizzled out either through conceding too many penalties or by losing control of the ball. One such attach was thwarted by a very dangerous tackle which only resulted in yet another penalty. The Uxbridge centre was lucky not to receive a red card. Further attacks by the home pack were held up on the line by a resolute Uxbridge defence. On the half-hour P&G’s won a scrum on the Uxbridge 10 m line and quickly moved the ball for Chris Hall to score in the left hand corner. The conversion from far out was unsuccessful but the home team went into half-time with a narrow 8 – 7 lead.

Within a couple of minutes of the restart the speed of the Uxbridge right wing soon put P&G’s under pressure. The visiting pack moved the ball in field with several driving rucks with one of their props forcing over for a try under the posts. The number 10 added 2 more points to restore their lead to 14 – 8.  Pinner then spent much of the next twenty minutes in and around the Uxbridge 22. The line-out, which up to then had not proved too successful, was won 10 metres out. The home forwards driving through with mauls enabled Alex Wheeler to score close in. Fly-half David Luiz added the 2 points and the home team were back in front 15 – 14.  Pinner should now have consolidated their victory but a poor decision to run out from the 22 resulted in a kick being charged down. Uxbridge quickly re-grouped and forced the ball over the line only for the referee to adjudge that the ball had not been grounded.  The final whistle was very welcome to the home side but yet another win had been achieved albeit by the narrowest of margins 15 – 14.

Next week the 1^st Xv play the league match at Ickenham postponed from the pre-Christmas snow.

Results and table:

Saturday, 19 February 2011
Belsize Park	33 – 3	Quintin
Old Merchant Taylors’	80 – 0	Old Tottonians
Old Millhillians	13 – 10	London French
Pinner & Grammarians	15 – 14	Uxbridge
Royston	AWO	Ickenham

Herts/Middlesex 2	Short Format Long Format
Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Millhillians 16 15 0 1 435 162 273 8 68 0 Old Merchant Taylors’ 16 11 2 3 455 192 263 12 60 0 Belsize Park 16 11 1 4 360 213 147 9 55 0 Royston 16 9 1 6 242 171 71 8 46 0 Ickenham 15 8 1 6 247 165 82 7 42 0 Pinner & Grammarians 15 8 0 7 303 314 -11 7 39 0 Old Isleworthians 14 7 0 7 276 285 -9 3 31 0 London French 15 4 0 11 224 267 -43 7 23 0 Uxbridge 15 4 0 11 237 448 -211 3 19 0 Quintin 15 3 1 11 183 337 -154 5 19 0 Old Tottonians 15 1 0 14 95 503 -408 1 0 -5

Pinner Mini Section host local teams Harrow and Ruislip

On an overcast, pre Valentines Day (a reminder for all those who still haven’t purchased cards/flowers/chocolates and the soft cuddly teddy bear yet!) Shaftesbury playing fields saw Pinner & Grammarians host two local teams for a mixture of training and friendly matches, both Harrow RFC and Ruislip RFC having made the short journey to Pinner. The clubhouse from 9.30 was filling up with expectant players and parents enjoying an early cuppa and bacon roll before play started. With nearly two hundred children attending the pitches and playing areas of Pinner were very full, especially as the Youth Section: Under 14’s occupying the top pitch for a League Fixture against visitors Ealing RFC. However all were accommodated and a great morning of rugby was witnessed by the many supporters.

Under 11/12’s

The training with the under 11/12s started with mixed groups working hard with tackle bags improving their skills in the ruck and maul then developing it into an attack versus defence scenario, this of course was to get the players focused for the up and coming matches.

The games played during the course of the morning resulted in a comprehensive victory over Harrow, the match reports are a combination of players views and thoughts who represented Pinner RFC

As the game began, the Pinner team were straight on the attack pushing deep into their opponents half and with determination controlled the first five minutes with superb passing and possession. In the next few minutes the rain arrived. Pinner stuck together, countering all Harrows attempts, despite the weather the teams battled whole heartedly, Harrow making a dent in the home teams defence. It was a hard fought game, particularly in the first half. Pinner moved ahead with a try down the line to open the scoring, but Harrow wouldn’t fall too easily. A second try followed after a period of hard work and energy. Everyone worked as a team member, supporting dashing runs, taking the ball through the opposition defence and controlling most of the play. All deserved their place – Jake Larman and Matthew Berseford-Smart  acting with no fear, going into tackles not giving up, Jacob Talbot, playing at best in the first half, saved Pinner by making exceptional tackles and fine running with the ball. Harrow were able to pull one back just on the cusp of half time.

The second half was very tightly contested with both teams making ground only to be thwarted at the last minute and the final score remained 10-5 to Pinner, a stunning match from Pinner

The second game saw a change in personal with substitutions being made, Pinner having, for the second week squad numbers to allow for rotation. A second game yielded many more points, with Pinner running in several tries in quick succession. The tries were scored by Ben Stone, Thomas Roycroft-Davis , Jake Larman  and Carl Laughna helped by Kai Gordon.

The two conversions scored were by Ryan Healy which contributed nicely to the overall tally.

It is hard to mention individual players as all played their part, in fact at their best, with some crunching tackles and decent passes and runs with the ball it was played with excellent team spirit.

The pack using its strength and some exceptional back manoeuvres skills were able to drive Pinner forward towards victory.

The second half saw a more heated exchange with the hosts enduring penalties going against them at almost every play, keeping their composure became hard work and did well in adapting their game to overcome decisions, with Harrow not giving up, they retained the ball well and made strides towards the Pinner touchline but again, Pinners defence proved too strong and organised and did not let the opposition score in the game. Final score: 29-0

Pinner back row, Carl Laughna, commented: ‘We are playing well as a team and that was shown today and last week against Slough, but we must learn to accept that the refs’ decision’s as final’.

Contributions from: Louis, Ryan, Sam, Carl

Squad: Ben, Jacob, Paul, Dylan, Sam, George, Carl, Gabriel, Matthew, Jake, Jack, Ryan, Thomas, Kai, Craig, Louis, Zagar, Brendan, Wahid

Next week Old Abotstonians RFC and Slough RFC away fixture, both teams have played us recently and will be seeking revenge.

Under 10’s

After a quick warm up , the Pinner RFC and Harrow RFC  u10s teams combined together to carry out drills in rucking and mauling, all the players found this very enjoyable and also an excellent chance to practice some game play prior to the matches of the day.

Pinner RFC played Harrow twice in two hard fought games with plenty of good running and hard tackling. Many of the tactics worked on in the earlier part of the session came to light during the game, which was excellent to see the young players using what they had learnt. After the morning session Pinner RFC had lost both games due to some great movement of the ball via passing the ball wide at speed by Harrow, the first result was 5 – 0 and the second 2-1. Well done to everyone involved.

Pinner tot up the points over Old Tottonians

This weekend Pinner RFC travelled to North London to face their adversaries from previous leagues, Old Tottonians. The weather was fair and the ground in perfect condition which gave hope to an expansive and emphatic display of running rugby.

From the kick off, Old Totts wanted to exert their dominance in the pack. Aesthetically they are an imposing side, but the first scrum down raised many a wry smile on the faces of the Pinner pack. Up front there was no contest and Pinner easily stopped the forwards play of Tott’s, driving back scrums and mauls with relative ease. The line-out proved to be a very different affair, however, with Pinner’s lack of imagination and cohesion letting them down, which gave Tott’s the only area in which they were superior.

With the forwards having established their pecking order, it was time for the backs to go against each other. It was 15 minutes into the game and the score board was yet to open, but with the ball now being thrown about in open play, Pinner looked much more dangerous. The ball went left to right and they slowly worked their way up field while Tott’s made desperate tackles. Near their own line, Tott’s then gave away a penalty which was tapped and given to the ever reliable Aaron Nichols. Crashing into the line and sucking in the defence, the ball was then recycled and shipped wide for Alex Goring. Dragging three men with him, he stretched far to put the ball over the line. The conversion was narrowly missed and the rest of the half saw Pinner attacking hard but failing to finish and capitalise on their evident superiority.

Pinner were clearly frustrated by their lacklustre performance in the first half and so came hurtling back at the defensive line. Time and time again they broke the gain line, only to be cut down in the nick of time. Tott’s attempted to find an answer by utilising the elements, well aware that the strong sun was behind them and blinding when the ball was put high. They were left wanting however, after some stronger open-play by the Pinner back line. Forcing their way toward the line, Pinner found the defence in disarray and Craig Lane took advantage by ducking round the blindside of a ruck to go over. The conversion was successful. Tott’s found some form and responded to this shortly after. The ball was lost in open play after Pinner tried to give a 50-50 pass and they picked up to dash to the line. The try was not converted.

Angered by the response, Pinner once again hurtled down the field and dragged themselves closer to the line. In a move very similar to the previous but this time taken by Fly half David Luiz, who found half a yard of space and hauled himself over the line. Again, however, Tott’s responded through a monumental effort by their large and lumbering prop. Having picked up the ball after Pinner had attempted to give another 50-50 pass, he found himself with 70 yards to cover. Admittedly, the acceleration wasn’t great, but once he’d reached top speed many were surprised by his pace. Especially, it has to be said, gas man Craig Lane, who failed to catch him to the surprise of all…

This was initially unconverted after being charged down, but the ref deemed the Pinner players to have left the mark before the kicker moved and so he was awarded another chance.

There not being much left in the game, Pinner were desperate for the bonus point and went after it hard. Yet again, they were camped in the Tott’s twenty-two and failing to break the line. However, eighth man David Luiz who, it must be said, had put in a sterling performance all game, broke through tackles to take the ball under the sticks. Successfully converted and with the whistle blown, Pinner celebrated a much deserved and desired victory.

Final score: 27-12. The bonus point is much needed, but there is a lot of work to do if Pinner want a similar result next week.

match report: Mark Razzle

Under 14’s:Pinner & Grammarians RFC (10) vs Ealing RFC (17)

A grey, damp morning saw Ealing narrowly avoid defeat at the hands of a disciplined Pinner side.

The opening 20 minutes was spent firmly entrenched in the middle of  the pitch, with neither side giving any ground. Twice Pinner looked close to breaking free, but with 30 seconds remaining, a powerful run through the middle by the Ealing No 4 saw the visitors take a 7 – 0 lead into half time.

The second half saw much of the same, with possession equally shared but a great move started by a drive from the Pinner front row saw flanker Adam Stone go over for his first competitive try of the season, which he narrowly missed converting. Ten minutes later and Pinner were 10 – 7 up, following a huge solo effort from inside centre Callum George. All Pinner had to do was hold on for 8 minutes and the points were theirs…..

Unfortunately a mix up and a very lucky bounce saw Ealing retain the ascendency at 12 – 10 and, in the final play, some slack defending saw a 3^rd Ealing try snatch away a bonus point from the home side.

Unquestionably their best performance this season and some wonderful play left the coaches unable to choose a man of the match! Captain Dominic Seiler and Vice Captain Callum George both lead by shining example but big mentions must also go to Adriaan Viljoen, Adam Stone, Piers Marx Carr, Jonathan Hill and Adam Rees for their incessant work rate. Pinner will win many matches playing considerably worse than that – bring on Harpenden!!

Clothes and Textiles Collection We need your Support for the Minis Tour

This is our first attempt at a fund raising event for the Mini’s Tour to Bognor, we need your support.

We are collecting old clothes and textiles, the idea is that we all collect bags of old clothes and textiles from our own homes, family and friends. Bring them into the rugby club over the next few weeks so we can amass a good weight in textiles, for which a Ragman will come and collect them and give us a nice cheque to go into the Tour account.

We also have some leaflets that will be available at the club on Sunday, with these you will need to fill in the gap with a collection date, then deliver them to houses in your local area, on the date that you have said you will collect the donations, just walk around the houses where you delivered your leaflets and collect the bags, you may need your car as the donations do mount up, remember there is no need to knock on doors as donations will be left out for you to collect.

Please show your support for the mini’s section, by giving an hour to deliver and collect, you could help the tour fund, please help with this collection even if you are unable to attend the tour we will all be very grateful.

See you all on Sunday it’s a home game. Paul PB.

Players and Parents will be collecting your donations.

Please leave bags outside with this leaflet attached.

WE SHALL BE VERY GREATFUL FOR

ANY OLD CLOTHES, SHEETS, BLANKETS,

CURTAINS, SHOES, HATS AND ANY OTHER TEXTILES.

Please Support your local Rugby Club,

Bringing Rugby to the local Community.

Raising funds towards the children’s teams’ tour.

Any special collection arrangements or more information

Please telephone 07747791568

Thank you for your kind support

Pinner senior teams this season in 34 seconds!

Many of the images from matches played this season from 1st XV  and Pelicans games done in 34 seconds, please click on link to watch, cheers Spud

Carol Greenwood in running shoes!

Help more people beat cancer. Yes I have actually signed up, not sure how much running will be involved, but I certainly aim to finish!! Please follow the link in the fixtures and forthcoming events (image of race for life) to donate

Thank you for visiting my Race for Life sponsorship page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online – it’s quick, easy and totally secure..

Events like Race for Life are vital in funding Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. By sponsoring me now you can help more people survive cancer..

Gift Aid it!.

If you are a UK taxpayer, please remember to tick the Gift Aid box when donating as this will increase your donation by at least 25% at no cost to you..

Every pound you donate really does make a difference – so please sponsor me now!.

Many thanks for your support. Together we will beat cancer.

Pinner 1st XV victory over Royston 17-3

An excellent afternoon of rugby, Pinner secured a convincing victory over third placed Royston RFC 17-3

The match report will follow shortly, however in the meantime here are some of the action shots from the game, enjoy!

Match Report:

Pinner return to their winning ways

After January playing the three leading teams of Herts Middx Div 2 showing improved performances compared to the matching Autumn games Pinner entertained north-east Hertfordshire club Royston at Shaftesbury Playing Fields on Saturday. P&G’s sealed victory in a purple patch in the latter stages of the first half.  Royston, with a bit of a score to settle after Pinner had scored three tries to win in the last ten minutes of the pre-Christmas encounter, came with a very limited game plan. For the first twenty minutes the visitors’ forwards mounted attack after attack with powerful pick and drive tactics pining P&G’s in their own half.  Inevitably Pinner conceded several penalties for killing the ball in rucks but Royston had no confidence in their kicker and opted for line-outs followed by more driving mauls.  Pinner’s defence matched and repulsed every attack but eventually, after 17 minutes, conceded yet another penalty within a short range of the goal posts. Royston scrum-half Chris Ball just managed to clear the bar to give his side a 3 – 0 lead. Pinner now changed tactic.  Gaining possession on their own 22 and with full-back Mark Razzell coming into the line at speed Pinner were able to break the stranglehold of the Royston pack. With a quarter of an hour left in the half P&G’s entered a period of scintillating rugby. Again attacking from their own 22 with a series of interchanges between captain Reza Sibilant and prop forward Simon Whitcombe.  The ball was quickly moved across the backs into the opponent’s half. Number 8 Bernie Richter was on hand to cover the final 25 metres to score under the –posts. Razzell converted to put the home team 7 – 3 up.  Immediately from the restart Pinner attached again. The kick was fielded by Warren Woad who brought the ball back into the Royston half knocking aside several opponents en route. Sibilant and Whitcombe were again on hand to keep the move flowing. Richter, with typical bullocking run took the ball to the 22 to feed prop Aaron Nicholas would went over near the right touchline. The conversion was unsuccessful.  With half-time looming Pinner shoved the Royston pack off their own scrum, Richter picked up and fed scrum half Simon Griffiths. The ball came back inside and Richter, following up as a No 8 should, went over for his second try. Razzell’s kick into the strong wind did not add to the score but Pinner were well satisfied with their 17 – 3 half-time lead.

With the strong wind now behind them Pinner began the second half with a series of attacks only to be led down by some poor handling and missed passes.  They failed to make use of the wind and on several occasion elected to try risky passing moves in their own 22 rather than punt the ball into the opponent’s half.  The game drifted into a dour war of attrition but the home side weathered a late Royston revival.  The bonus point four try eluded them and there was no further scoring in the match.  However a win by 17 – 3 was very welcome.

On Sat 12^th Feb the Hatch End based club play Old Tottonians away in a match postponed form the pre-Christmas snow.

From the Captain Reza

17-3 says a lot, but it doesn’t say it all. The first 15 minutes we were camped on our try line and could not get out. Their forwards thought they could bully our pack and had a plan in place where they would pick and drive every ruck. After 15 minutes of going nowhere due to unbelievable defence by us (I think the pack, griff and David have to take the majority of the praise as they only attacked close in), they realised they were not going to score and went for the 3 points.
Rugby is a game where physicality is a main player, but we can’t dismiss the psychological blow that was dealt when they went for the posts. For them, their decision was we should take the points. For me, I knew the game was won as they could not see a way past our defence and therefore needed to take 3 points. I looked around when they decided to go for the kick and every Pinner player had a massive smile on their face, high 5’s everywhere as we knew we had the opposition in the palm of our hands. So it was no surprise that the next 25 mins we hammered them.
From the kick off they kicked it long and we countered from deep inside our own half. What felt like 50+ passes later and everyone touching the ball, we were inches from scoring the greatest try Pinner has ever seen. With the ball in hand, and in broken play we are the best team in the league, FACT. This passage of play gave us confidence to run from anywhere.
3 of the best tries we have scored this year/last few years? I don’t think I am being to ‘loose’ with that phrase as we totally dominated the play and were spraying the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, breaking their line consistently and looking dangerous every time we had the ball. Unfortunately the second half played out with not much action, but it was one of the most enjoyable games I have had in a Pinner shirt.
We are starting to gel as a team and we should have no fear stepping on the pitch against anyone. Our attitude, commitment to the team, each other has now been backed up by our rugby and we have to keep this going to the end of the season.

Saturday, 05 February 2011
Old Isleworthians	13 – 0	Ickenham
Old Tottonians	3 – 34	Old Millhillians
Pinner & Grammarians	17 – 3	Royston
Quintin	5 – 24	Old Merchant Taylors’
Uxbridge	14 – 41	Belsize Park

Herts/Middlesex 2	Short Format Long Format
Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Millhillians 14 13 0 1 393 142 251 7 59 0 Old Merchant Taylors’ 14 9 2 3 337 168 169 10 50 0 Royston 15 9 1 5 242 171 71 8 46 0 Belsize Park 14 9 1 4 293 200 93 7 45 0 Ickenham 13 7 1 5 237 136 101 7 37 0 Old Isleworthians 13 7 0 6 252 247 5 2 30 0 Pinner & Grammarians 13 6 0 7 261 288 -27 6 30 0 London French 13 4 0 9 204 220 -16 6 22 0 Quintin 13 3 1 9 155 276 -121 4 18 0 Uxbridge 13 3 0 10 195 408 -213 2 14 0 Old Tottonians 13 1 0 12 83 396 -313 1 0 -5