In appalling conditions Barnstaple chose to play with a strong wind. Chinnor’s only answer was to pick and drive as much as possible.
Chinnor’s first try came from a wayward Barnstaple kick which was fielded by Kieran Goss who made an outside break to put mike MacDonald over in the corner.
Chinnor were now dominating the scrummages and with Ben Hilton ‘yellow carded’ Chinnor took full advantage with MacDonald going over for his second try within 25 minutes. Josh Barton scored by virtue of a quick penalty from a scrummaging infringement. Barnstaple deservedly came back with William Topps scoring under the posts after 36 minutes with Jacob Murphy adding the conversion.
One minute from half time Orisi’s try gave Chinnor their 4th try and a bonus point.
It was all Barnstaple at the start of the second when they took the game to Chinnor with some good handling. Chinnor then began to utilise the strong wind with further tries from Alex Dancer, Mike MacDonald and George Oliver. These all being converted, Hopkins (1) and Bentley (2)
Alfie Pennyfield scored a fine try for Barnstaple during this period. Barnstaple coach Steve Perry, said, “He was pleased with the character of his players.” Unavailability cost them dearly at set pieces. We lost to a well drilled Chinnor side and wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season”. Matt Williams, Chinnor coach said, “in horrendous conditions, we based our success around scrum dominance and we showed a lot of ability with ball in hand.”
Man of the Match – Mike MacDonald