Chinnor dominated from the 1st whistle with their execution of the line out and scrum particularly eye catching- out playing the hosts at their own game. After 8 mins of almost total possession Man of the Match Jack Ramshaw powered over for the opening try of the game which Jonny Bentley duly converted. Clearly irked by Chinnor’s control of the forward game Rams talisman No 8 Stapley misguidedly took on huge Tom Judd with some foul play that resulted in the Rams 8 leaving the field with a game ending injured shoulder.
The delay in play (thinking time) allowed Rams to get their offloading game into action and they reduced the arrears with Henderson going over out wide but the conversion was missed. This invoked an immediate response from Chinnor and live wire scrum half Mike McDonald with a delightful chip and mazy run made it 12-5. Jonny Bentley added the extra. A simple penalty in front of the posts for the Rams narrowed the gap on the scoreboard. Chinnor then withheld a 10 min period with 14 men when Joe Hutchinson was correctly sin binned for a high tackle. A stamp on Ricky Cano then gave a break in the action and gave both sides a breather but only a penalty to the visitors. Then a superb 65 metre run from Phil Chesters on the intercept and another Jonny Bentley conversion gave the half time score Rams 8 Chinnor 21..
Having turned his ankle just before the break the influential Mike McDonald was unable to continue in the 2nd half leaving Chinnor to face 40 mins of rugby without a recognised Scrum half. With Henry Lamont stepping up to the plate Chinnor withstood intense Rams pressure but the hosts finally scored on 53 mins . With a yellow bizarrely brandished to Lamont after the try Chinnor had to have another major reshuffle as there were no more substitute backs to call on. This adversity galvanised the Black and Whites both mentally and physically with first Willie Ryan showing immense strength and determination to drive over and then Jonny Bentley sniping for a 5th Chinnor try. This gave Chinnor a 15-31 lead with 15 mins to go.
With nothing to lose, and promotion hopes hanging by a thread, the Rams threw on their substitutes and gave everything they had in the locker at Chinnor and breached the Villagers defence on 72 mins and then, nerve wrackingly, on 77 mins (both converted) leaving Chinnor to see out the final brutal 2 minutes penalty free .Sadly the superb Willie Ryan picked up a significant injury in the closing stages but Chinnor saw out the threat and held on to be worthy winners 29-31 .
The management and discipline in the lineout from Chinnor was faultless and nullified much of the Rams threat and along with this week work on scrummaging built the platform for this top draw performance. It was a great game and advert for rugby. Chinnor played with superb skill, intelligence and discipline and overcame a talented Rams side with a well-executed plan A,B,C & D and in emergency X,Y & Z!!

Match Report by T.Yakki

Rams
Foxley,Duffelen,Bryant,Souter,Corrigan,Humberstone,Lloyd,Weller,Henderson,Berry,Taylor,Thompson, Stapley C,Vooght, Stapley R
Reps
Drew,Gutteridge,Rossiter,Burn

Chinnor
Goss,Chesters,Dancer,Nawaqaliva,Barnes,Bentley,McDonald,Cano,Hutchinson,Gilding, Ramshaw, Jubb,Oliver,Bordill,Ryan
Reps Bingham,Manning,Bradley,Price,Lamont.

Ref: Nicholas Wood
Attendance 407
Star Man Jack Ramshaw, Amazing workrate and Devastating tackling