CHINNOR opened up pre-season with a promising display at Kingsey Road in a hard-fought battle with Carmarthen Quins.

Supporters returned with no restrictions in place for the first game of rugby union at Kingsey Road since March 2020, and it proved to be an entertaining occasion.

Tries from Oscar Heath, Nick Smith and Dean Hammond had put the hosts into a deserved 15-5 lead.

But the Welsh Premier Division side staged a late fightback and two tries in the final nine minutes saw them secure a narrow victory.

With only two weeks remaining until our National League 1 season-opener against Sale, this fixture was a vital opportunity for the majority of our Senior Squad to enjoy some game time.

Director of Rugby, Richard Thorpe selected two different XVs to face Carmarthen, with Team White playing in the first half and Team Black in the second.

The matchday squad included five homegrown players, with Andy Berry, George Grose, Seb Scott, Ben Wilkinson and Tom Wilson featuring.

It was also an opportunity for our Chinnor Family to see our new players, and get to know them all a little better in our Meet The Players event after the game.

A minute’s silence was observed before kick-off in memory of our former Colt, Chris Pickering who sadly passed away earlier this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this devastating time.

Any nerves from the players about a first rugby union game in 18 months may have been quashed in the fourth minute. Early Chinnor territory paid dividends and we exploited space on the left where Heath stretched his legs and dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

It took seven minutes for the first scrum to be awarded and there was perhaps an inevitability about it being reset. Carmarthen went on to enjoy the upper hand up front, but the home side caused problems in other areas.

The visitors responded well to going behind and were just stopped short when a catch and drive looked to have try written all over it.

However, we were penalised on the floor, and another lineout led to a Quins player peeling off the maul on the blind and touching down in the corner for an unconverted score to level at 5-5 after 12 minutes.

Quins began to enjoy more territory and possession, but Chinnor’s defence stood up to the task well as they were never able to make up any significant ground.

The home side thought they had retaken the lead on 23 minutes, when Scott surged through a gap and Jason Worrall scored in the corner, but it was disallowed for a forward pass.

Space was always available out wide and we nearly exploited it again when Heath raced down the left, kicked ahead only for the bounce of the ball to just elude the stretching Worrall.

Chinnor enjoyed the better of the chances towards the end of the 40 minutes without adding to their tally in what proved to be a pretty even first half.

Team Black emerged for the second period and fresh legs almost instantly made a difference when Hammond danced past two players before being stopped in his tracks.

We re-took the lead just a few minutes into the half, though, as a long pass out to the left bounced nicely for Max Clementson who charged into the open space and released Smith to dive over out wide for an unconverted try and make it 10-5.

We continued to apply the pressure and a great kick chase won a penalty, resulting in Smith kicking to the corner, but we were unable to make the most of a promising situation.

Chinnor were on top and it became 15-5 on 53 minutes when Smith carved open the Quins defence with a lovely line and found Hammond who breezed over on the left.

Even when Carmarthen enjoyed ball in hand, our defence continued to impress and we withstood a prolonged period of pressure around the hour mark.

However, that territory paid off on 70 minutes when Quins exploited a gap in the middle of the pitch to score their second try to reduce the deficit to 15-10.

We were forced to defend for the rest of the game and the visitors went over again on 78 minutes as a flowing move led to a try out wide which was brilliantly converted from the touchline for 17-15.

There was no time for Chinnor to respond, but it proved a positive afternoon and a very useful run out for our First XV.

Team White (First Half): Worrall, Scott, Grose, Bourton, Heath, N Smith (Titherington 20), Carter, Tonga’uiha, Fleckney, Lomas, Gilbert, Brockschmidt, North, Wilkinson, Tuilagi.

Team Black (Second Half): Goss, O Smith (Wilson 79), Davies, Yawayawa (Titchener 72), Hammond, N Smith (Titherington 60), Ham, Lines (Chilvers 65), Cornish (Gilbert 70), Hardwick, Glynn, Lavin, Manning (Wilkinson 61), Clementson, Berry (North 50).

Unused Reps: Walsh.