CHINNOR signed off their away campaign in style as they returned home from Bishop’s Stortford with an enjoyable bonus-point victory.

Wins have been hard to come by at Silver Leys in recent years with the record books showing only one success in the last ten years, but our First XV delivered in front of a healthy crowd.

There was a real party atmosphere at Stortford, with the hosts eager to sign off their final home game in style. At 12-all and 26-all, you just couldn’t call it, but we took control of the final 15 minutes of the National 1 contest to secure our fifth victory in our last six National 1 matches.

We often seem to play the Hertfordshire side at this time of year and the hosts usually deliver in a loose and open contest. Although we were unable to prevent another try-fest, our dominance at scrum-time, bulldozing carries through the centre of the field – particularly from man-of-the-match Willie Ryan – quick ball and dogged defensive work when needed ensured this would be our day.

As we head into our final match of the season at home to Darlington Mowden Park next Saturday, we can now only finish eighth or ninth in the table, and we applaud the players and coaching staff for the turnaround over the last few months.

Andy Berry, Nick Smith and Jack Walsh came into the starting XV which beat Hull two weeks ago to secure our National 1 safety and we made a great start.

The recent wet weather had given way for glorious sunshine and we led after three minutes. With Stortford penalised on their 22, we kicked to the corner and attacked on the blindside of the maul for wing Kieran Goss to score an unconverted try in the corner.

Unfortunately, Stortford were not behind for long and levelled two minutes later. The hosts spread the ball wide quickly off a lineout on the 22 and found an edge on their left wing with Jake Morris crossing.

That didn’t seem to deter us, though, and we proceeded to pick up from where we started, with centre Jason Worrall and No 8 Ryan helping us make metres in the home side’s half. A 17th-minute driving lineout looked to be the ticket for our second try, but as we shifted the ball back to the touchline Smith was tackled and the ball rattled around loosely all over the place.

A Stortford knock on was the verdict and by now we had already asserted our authority in the scrum and that provided the platform for Ryan to make another blistering carry towards the try-line. This helped to create an overload over on the left and we didn’t need to shift it all the way out wide as full-back Will Feeney snuck through to dot down. Smith slotted the conversion as we now led 12-5 after 18 minutes.

However, once again our lead was to only last for a few minutes as full-back Nick Hankin exploited a gap in the centre of the field to score under the posts and fly-half Matt Riddington added the extras to bring the scores level.

Right, we looked set for another try-fest with four scores inside the opening 20 minutes, but the match became rather error-strewn and chaotic, although all the while we dominated the set piece and ended up finishing the half on top.

From a lineout on our own 22, we launched a blistering attack which looked to have caught the hosts out, but the offload didn’t quite come off after Smith had eaten up a good 30m on his right wing.

We would head into half-time with the lead, though, as a penalty allowed us another opportunity to kick to the corner. Stortford defended the maul well, but we played out and Worrall ran a lovely line from in-field to storm over and score his 18th try of the season – incredibly his 40th in 67 matches for the Club to bring up 200 points in a Chinnor jersey. Smith added the conversion as we led 19-12 at the break.

We fully deserved our half-time advantage and after a bit of defensive work at the start of the second period, which included a fine chop tackle from hooker Reece Marshall, we went on to secure the four-try bonus point and it was some score.

Turning over possession just inside our half, we launched a blistering counter, with great hands and lovely lines enabling us to shift the ball to the opposite wing in quick time. From there, Gossy superbly offloaded for centre Will Blakemore to charge over and score under the sticks for what will surely be one of our best tries of the season. Again, Smith added the extras and we now led 26-12 after 50 minutes.

Unfortunately, that 14-point lead was about to be wiped out by two Stortford tries in the space of four minutes. The first of which came down the left after Blakemore suffered a shoulder injury in a heavy collision and the home side exploited the space with Francis Moore running in. Stortford then drew level at 26-all after 57 minutes when a box-kick just inside our half was charged down and Riddington collected the ball to stroll in under the posts. Connor Lloyd converted both as the match was back in the balance.

As you would expect, Stortford now had their tails up and the home crowd, nicely hydrated and soaking up the sun, were starting to get excited. However, we dealt with it impressively and the boys worked tirelessly while under the cosh as a superb defensive effort was rewarded with a ruck penalty mid-way inside our half and replacement Tom Price sent a meaty clearance up to the opposition 22.

With the lineout secured we were back on the attack, and with scrum-half Luke Carter and Ryan then making metres off a scrum, another penalty against the hosts gave us the opportunity to go to the corner once more. This time the maul was unstoppable and replacement Will Cave crashed over to make it four tries in his last two games. Price’s conversion attempt unluckily hit the right upright and bounced out, so with a five-point lead and 12 minutes remaining there was still plenty of work to do.

But we controlled proceedings impressively well, with our scrum continuing to allow us to assert our authority and keep Stortford in their half. With five minutes left on the clock, we were awarded a penalty on the 22 in the centre of the field and we took the opportunity to go for the posts, with Price holding his nerve to slot the three points and extend our lead to 34-26 and putting us out of reach of a converted try.

Stortford made a late attempt to at least claim another bonus point on the top of their four tries, but we defended superbly and a turnover in the centre of the field brought up the full-time whistle.

Another entertaining contest between these two sides and a bonus-point victory always makes the M25 a little more enjoyable.

Next up … DMP as we mark our First XV’s final match of the season with a Family Fun Day. We hope you can join us and you can buy your tickets HERE.

Bishop’s Stortford: Hankin, Morris, Moore, Ayrton, Stannard, Riddington, Bolton; Roberts, Rayment, McCrone, Charter, Langworthy, Rogers, Jones, Wrafter.
Reps: Jackson, Price, Nkwocha, Lloyd, Parkhouse.

Chinnor: Feeney, Smith, Worrall, Blakemore, Goss, Walsh, Carter; Lines, Marshall, McNulty, Down, Berry, Theobald-Thomas, Heathman, Ryan.
Reps: Darlington, Harewood, Cave, Grose, Price.