In quite appalling condition Esher were on top in the initial stages. Chinnor found it very hard to get their hand on the ball which wasn’t helped by conceding three early penalties. Esher deservedly opened the scoring from another penalty which was kicked by No 10 Roberts. The ball was obviously very difficult to handle with both sides spilling good possession. After 20 minutes Esher were caught off side and Greg Goodfellow equalled the scores for the home side.However, a poor restart by Chinnor led to Esher charging down a clearance kick and with slick handling Beckett went over in the corner. An excellent kick from the touchline by Roberts gave Esher a 10-3 lead. Roberts then added a further penalty before Chinnor replied with a trademark rolling maul finished off by Will Bordill and converted by Goodfellow to make it 10-13 at half time

The second half was all Chinnor but the hosts kept spilling the ball in the testing condition. From a rare Esher attack a speculative kick and confused defending allowed the visitors to extend their lead through Irving touching down- fortunately the conversion went unconverted. Chinnor got their act together and drove over from short range with Greg King scoring and Goodfellow converting to make it a onepoint game 17-18.

Chinnor continued to dominate and in the final 10 minutes, after a series of pick and drives, George Oliver powered over. With Goodfellow adding the extra this gave Chinnor a 6 point margin.

Esher came storming back and forced a scrummage 5 metres out. But Chinnor’s front row dominance was rewarded with a penalty and the clock was run down to give Chinnor a hard won victory

MoM Tom Burns ( Chinnor)

Chinnor
Goss, Hudson,Dancer A, King ©,Joseph,Holland,Goodfellow.Burns, Bordill,Manning, Ramshaw, Thomas, Betts, George, Beesley.
Reps
O’Connell,Oliver,Dancer J,Barnes, Nawaqaliva

Esher
Simpson,Irving,Strang, Waters,Beckett,Roberts, Walsh, Collins, Gossington, Dudley,Montgomery, Gentles,Lowes Hope, Mines
Reps
Tanner,Paul, Hore, Boatman, Brooks

Ref Mr Nick Wood