Although, the result indicated a comfortable victory for Chinnor, this was never the case at Chippenham last Saturday.
They had to defend for long periods in the second half against a team that did not give up. Heavy rain during the warm-up and the game itself made for a slippery surface and a greasy ball, which made handling quite difficult. Playing into the wind, Chinnor were first on the score sheet after 20 minutes when a well-executed blindside move put Eric Brown away.
He still had much to do, but with a hand-off and an arching run, he made it into the corner. He scored his second in similar circumstances some minutes later, only on this occasion he took the ball some 30 metres out but with a powerful run, managed to reach the line.

Chippenham struck back with two penalties from fly half James Gibson to leave Chinnor with a 10-6 lead at the interval.
Chinnor had the wind at their backs in the second half and increased their lead within a minute of the restart. A long kick downfield by fly half Richard Williams reached Chippenham's left wing Champion, who threw a pass to no-one in particular. This allowed Williams to gather the ball and score the simplest of tries. The conversion and a penalty from Williams completed the scoring.

Chippenham did come back strongly with their forwards keeping possession by picking up and driving forward, but when they spun it wide, they did not pose that much danger. Chinnor could have, and should have, used the wind to their advantage by kicking for territory.However, it was an indication of their confidence that they tried to keep the ball in hand.

For Chinnor, Brown once again showed what an excellent finisher he is - he is now the top try-scorer in South West Division One. Darren Oxley had another influential game in the centre with the team well led by Paul Hennessy.

From "Round the Corner"

 

Chippenham 6 (Pens: Gibson 2.) 

Chinnor 20 (Tries: Brown 2, . Con: Brown. Pen: Brown.) 

Chippenham’s tale of woe continues as they went down 6-20 on Saturday at home to Chinnor.  This loss means that Chippenham have lost four games in a row but for coach Rob Alford, the situation can be retrieved.  He said; ‘Again the result is disappointing but this was a similar game to Weston.  We didn’t kick for position enough – instead we tried to make things happen.   Unfortunately, things didn’t happen.’

A heavy rainfall half an hour before the kick-off made playing conditions difficult.  But Chippenham started off well.   They enjoyed plenty of possession and found themselves in the Chinnor half of the pitch for long periods of play. 

Chinnor were able to defend well and were very quick on the counter-attack.  It was one such break that saw their fly-half Eric Brown open the scoring with a try.

The visitors’ second try soon followed as Chinnor took the initiative from the restart.  Putting Chippenham under pressure paid off and Brown grabbed his second try, going over the line in the corner.  Again the conversion was missed but Chinnor has a 0-10 lead.

The restart saw the home side go on the attack and put Chinnor under some pressure.  Again, the pressure paid off and they were awarded a penalty which was duly converted by James Gibson making his debut at fly-half.  3-10 Chinnor

With Chippenham having Mark Livesey sent to the sin-bin and down to fourteen men, Chinnor should have taken the advantage.  But Chippenham looked dangerous in set pieces and it was only some sloppy play in the loose which let them down.

Another penalty kicked by Gibson saw the deficit reduced to 6-10 at half-time.

The second half began in the worse possible way for Chippenham, giving away a soft converted try in the opening minutes.  6-17 Chinnor

But Chippenham hit back and gained a penalty in front of the Chinnor posts which went begging.  Minutes later Chinnor also missed the opportunity to extend their lead.  The penalty attempt going wide.

As the half progressed Chippenham seemed able to raise their game only to be pegged back by some dogged defending by Chinnor.   A series of stoppages stopped the flow of the game and Chippenham were forced to make changes.  Jon Angell replacing Livesey, Matt Spurway replacing Gary Champion and John Cheeseman coming on for Kevin Thornton.  

There then followed a period of scrappy play as the rain poured down again and Chippenham were again under pressure and gave away an easy penalty for the Chinnor’s Eric Brown to slot over the penalty.   6 – 20 Chinnor

But just before the final whistle, a great break through the backs saw McMillan take off with the ball only to be felled as he made his way to the line.

A fourth defeat in a row for Chippenham and next week’s game, at home, to Spartans is a must win one.   Alford said; ‘The game against Spartans next week is a massive one and we cannot lose.  If we do, it will anchor us to the bottom of the league and we will then be playing catch-up.   Some of the team today are still very young to be playing at this level and they are still learning.   A bit more belief in themselves and a win under our belts will make all the difference.’