Rugby
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Chippenham 42, Swanage & Wareham 7
Rugby: Chippenham's first team comprehensively beat their opponents Swanage & Wareham on Saturday and in the process secured their promotion to South West One next season.
The success was all the more sweet as they gain promotion as Champions of South West Two. With only one more game left to play, Marlow away at Marlow, Chippenham cannot be beaten.
Going into Saturday's game, Chippenham only needed one point to secure promotion and the trophy but both teams took to the field of play with a point to prove. But the home team had the bigger point and at the end of eighty minutes, Chippenham had their heads higher.
The opening exchanges were fairly even with neither team gaining the upper hand or managing to stamp any kind of dominance or authority on the game. There were a couple of lengthy stoppages for injuries but gradually, Chippenham began to dominate.
Swanage were more than up to the challenge - their defence remained solid and were able to repell the Chippenham attacks. Several times, Chippenham showed what they are capable of, and several times had the chance to break away. But good defending combined with dropped passes saw the chances go begging.
Swanage looked dangerous on the break but the first twenty minutes of the first half were stop/start with the respective physios and referee's whistle doing all the work. Play was very scrappy and there was also a tense edge to the game and tempers at times boiled over.
Chippenham had outside centre Gary Champion sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.
Swanage tried to take advantage of the extra man and put relentless pressure on the Chippenham defence. The game was stopped again for a injury to a Swanage player and from the restart, Chippenham at last meant business.
A break across field saw a maul from which prop Pete Kirby picked up and drove forward. Scrum-half Tom Collins collected the final pass and dived over the line line for the opening score of the match. Full-back Karl Brant kicked the conversion and Chippenham were off and running.
From this point, the game never looked in doubt for the home side. Swanage had their prop Burgess sent to the sin-bin for persistant offending and now that Chippenham had the extra man advantage, they made full use of him.
Their second try came from team skipper James Gaiger. A lovely break by the forwards made it easy for Gaiger to collect the ball and cross the line. Brant added the conversion and CHippenham had doubled their lead to 14-0 which was a comfortable cushion going into the half-time break.
The beginning of the second half saw Chippenham's third try from the whistle and whilst most of the large crowd were still making their way back to pitch-side. Brant kicked the conversion and Chippenham had immediately stretched their lead to 21-0.
9:58am Monday 14th April 2008
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