End of season grades

I'd personally give Ealing an 'A' grade on the year in terms of their on-field and coaching performance. This was really a transitional year for the squad, with many more young/academy players being introduced to the squad while some of the stalwarts of the past half decade either left (James Cordy-Redden, Steven Shingler, Jordan Burns, Pat Howard), or were phased out throughout the year (Simon Uzokwe, Max Bodilly, Rayn Smid, Lloyd Williams). Nevertheless, Ealing were dominant throughout the season, going 19-3, scoring over 1100 points, and having over a 600 point margin of victory. On top of that, they made the Prem Cup semis, while doing the double over Saracens and beating Northampton away.

The club managed to really develop and get excellent experience for a number of younger players such as Michael Stronge, David Douglas Bridge, Lefty Zigariadis, Josh Taylor, and Elliot Chilvers while having arguably the best season in club history. I think a lot of fans saw the departure of a few big names such as Richard Hardwick and Billy Twelvetrees without any big name back fill as a real risk for the year, but that doesn't seem to have been the case at all. 

The coaching staff deserves a real thumbs up from me this year as well, as I didn't see nearly as many headscratching sides put out as in previous years, which meant that there were no slip ups against bottom of the table sides this year. 

Am I disappointed that there was no promotion playoff? Absolutely. Do I think Ealing would have won - quite possibly, but overall this year left me quite optimistic for the future, and very happy with the direction that the club seems to be going on the field.

For Bedford, it has to be an A. The best finish we’ve had in over 10 years, finishing ahead of 3 full time teams. Beat every team at least once. The only really disappointing result was the loss away at Chinnor in the quagmire as well as the manner of the spanking we took from Cov in the 2nd game of the season. That seems a long time ago now!

Cambridge E for achievement, A for effort.

We hope that a new coach and a significant turnover in players will mean we do better next year.

Of course, the other 13 teams will also improve - can we improve enough.

The reason I said that is because if it hadn’t been for the idiot behaviour of some of the Pirates fans then we might have had a hope of scoring the final kick..! Poor Jai Johal never stood a chance against an air horn and various chants while he was trying to take his kick. 

Finished 9th in the end, but going into the final game we had an opportunity to finish 7th, unheard of in recent times. 9 wins and 30 points clear of Cambridge is quite a result for  club thats been dangling around the bottom for a while. Stand out wins against Pirates (H) and nilling Doncaster away in October, and away win to Nottingham in April.  

- Most league points in a decade.

- Joint highest finish since 2017

- Highest ever finish in the Championship.

We have had a habit in recent seasons of throwing games at the last minute or with the dying actions, which resurfaced this year with a number of annoying losses - 34-33 to Hartpury, 14-15 to Ampthill, 20-22 to Bedford. Club could have been pushing for top 6 without them.

Another good season for Noah Ferdinand, nominated for player of the season. Two players who've stood out once making the starting shirt their own are Austin Wallis (11 odd tries from hooker), and Jonny Law at scrumhalf. Matt Wilkinson at lock putting in a shift in every week.

Didnt really see the best of Jonah Holmes due to injury and had some other good operators (Will Brown, Will Talbot-Davies) in and out with injury.

The dreaded DR debate which I know is popular on here. I've long been vocal that I really dislike this link up with Quins and that it doesnt help us in the long or short term. We put out some teams mid season with 10+ starting Quins which was just absurd, and glad we have really reduced that as we have gone along. Very happy with the new limits for next season, as when we have consistently selected the same squad of LS contracted players we've actually looked very good. Chopping and changing every game ruins our momentum and form.

Notable successes of the loan scheme - Roma Zheng on the wing, Zach Carr at lock/8 and Josh Bellamy at 10/15.

Downsides - having players like Archie White and George Hammond parachuted in for one game only to clearly only get gametime after injury. Having several players come in at various points who clearly couldnt care less/took game time off LS players - e.g. Lewis Gjaltema coming in to take game time off Jonny Law as above - couldnt buy a start before xmas. Cleaves (more last season) in particular never looked like he gave a rats a*se about playing for us and barely bothered chasing back/tackling.

I would give Chinnor an A.

Newly promoted sides normally struggle in the Championship, but they were competitive in all games until being well beaten away at Doncaster, Ealing and Bedford in the final three away games. It was reportedly the best first season in the Championship in the last 10 years, apart from Coventry. After huge gaps without matches during the season due to being excluded from the Premiership Cup, the run of 10 games in 11 weeks to finish may have taken its toll.

Wins were recorded over Doncaster, Bedford and Nottingham, as well as doubles over Caldy and Cambridge. A draw was achieved at Hartpury in April, who at the time had a 100% home record. 

Narrow losses against Pirates ( twice ), Ampthill, Nottingham and London Scottish might have gone the other way with a bit more experience, know-how or luck !

Scrum-half Luke Carter was excellent all season and finished joint-third in the division's try scoring list. Full-back Will Feeney was also very good until a season ending injury in January against Ealing, who ironically have signed him for next season.

The pack held its own in most games, and whilst the line-outs were sometimes suspect, they were very good in the loose, especially in the muddy conditions in December. Hopefully there will be more games in November, December and January next season for Chinnor and less in May !

The attendances all season were amazing, and Chinnor had the third best average in the league at 1,793, up from 479 two seasons ago.

I agree though Chinnor have contributed significantly to this season’s Championship, and have been well rewarded by the level of home support.

There might even be something in this promotion idea….