Henley survived the dismissal of prop Paul Laffin to capture a record 11th Oxfordshire Cup crown in a rugged, physical final at Iffley Road on Saturday.

Laffin, who played for Oxford in last December's Varsity Match, was sent off for landing a punch on his Chinnor opposite number Jo Winpenny in the 58th minute.

Chinnor were leading 18-15 at the time and seemed set for a fourth victory in this competition.

But Henley, forced by the rules to field their second team, regrouped against a side who appeared not to know how to play against 14 men.

The Henley pack, who were magnificent, scored their third try from a driving maul and held on for a deserved victory.

The game was marred as a spectacle in the second half by a large number of stoppages, but the result was in doubt until the final whistle.

For Chinnor, cheered to the echo by their vocal supporters, this was a second narrow defeat in successive years.

Things had looked good for the South West 1 outfit in a first half that saw the lead change hands five times.

After going behind to a third-minute penalty from Henley scrum half Steve Drake, Chinnor were handed a gift try four minutes later.

Tall fly half James Cathcart, who was not quite on song with his place-kicking, was just wide with a 35-metre penalty.

Instead of touching down for a 22 drop-out, Henley fly half Jon Stebbings try to kick for touch. But his clearance was charged down by Chinnor centre Cameron Shaw, who scored a simple try under the posts. Carthcart's conversion put his side 7-3 ahead.

Henley replied with the first of their driving-maul tries, scored by No 8 Dave Archer, to lead 8-7.

Then lead changed hands again in the 18th minute. Chinnor's highly-promising 17-year-old Morgan Thompson, supporting a forward drive, put in a delightful grubber kick to the corner, and winger Charlie Oyebade had a simple task of touching down.

Again Henley responded in similar fashion, when flanker James Street came up with the ball following another devastating driving maul.

Drake's conversion made it 15-12, but on the half-hour, Cathcart's simple penalty levelled the scores. That's the way it stayed until half-time.

Chinnor, for whom Cathcart was exerting a greater influence with some huge tactical kicks, looked to be taking charge early in the second half when he put them ahead with a long-range penalty.

Then came Laffin's sending-off, which allied to Henley's earlier injury woes, nearly led to them forfeiting the game as they were unable to field a front row.

But they shuffled their resources so well that, seven minutes after Laffin's departure, they scored the winning try.

Again it came from a driving maul, as Archer claimed his second try in an outstanding display, which won him the Ron Grimshaw Memorial Trophy as man-of-the-match.

Trailing 20-18, Chinnor tried to run what little ball they won to no avail. So it was Henley - and their well-drilled pack - who won the day.

Chinnor: J Hewitt, R Grimsdell, D Oxley, C Shaw, C Oyebade, J Cathcart, M Thompson, S Matthews (capt), A Cawston, J Winpenny (R Harris 68, R Major 80), C Burrows, M Hutchins, A Milburn (S Pearson 69), M Cook, Z Winslade.

Henley Hawks Alliance D South (S Tattersall 36, G Odredian 39), K Ejikeme, L Burns, J Hirst (G Odredian 27-39), R Osman, J Stebbings (JP Filler 70), S Drake, P Laffin (sent off 58), J Hamilton-Smith, R Fuller, M Harding (C Cimpioas 27), B Glossop (capt), J Filler (R Hodges 58), J Street, D Archer.

Referee: R Naish (Berks).