CHINNOR dug deep to produce an outstanding second half performance and clinch a crucial comeback victory over fellow strugglers Esher.

On a cold Friday night in Surrey, it was a must-win fixture for both teams in their bid to move clear of the bottom three and to say the five points are huge is probably an understatement.

Esher produced a high-energy performance to lead 22-5 at the break, but our physicality never let up throughout the contest and contributed to what really was a game of two halves.

Tries from Grant Hughes – outstanding all evening – and Mark Darlington – impressive off the bench – hauled us to within five points and when the hosts collapsed a 75th-minute driving maul destined for the whitewash, the referee had no choice but to award a penalty try.

Our job wasn’t quite done there as we had five minutes to protect a two-point lead and the players stood up to the task as Esher struggled to make it further than ten metres inside our half.

A gritty, physical display under the lights was roared on by our Chinnor faithful – easily identifiable by those bobble hats - who had battled their way through the Friday traffic to see their side produce the goods.

The win has lifted us up to ninth place and ten points above Taunton Titans who occupy the final relegation spot in National 1. I guess we can now sit back and enjoy our Wildboys and Outlaws in action at Kingsey Road as we wait for the rest of the matches to be played.

Injuries unfortunately led to a further seven changes for this fixture, with Ben Manning and Willie Ryan among them and, despite a quick bit of research, we’re struggling to find the last time we fielded a team without either of them in the squad.

Esher’s first half was dictated by their impressive fly-half Sam Morley and they produced a high-energy opening 40 minutes which, in all honesty, did have us Chinnor Family somewhat concerned.

Peter Winterbottom’s side took the lead after just four minutes. Our maul defence at the driving lineout was superb, but Esher were able to push us back further at the pick and goes, resulting in No 8 Jack Rouse driving over close to the posts. Morley added the extras for 7-0.

Our response was decent. Nick Smith – again on the right wing – brilliantly won a turnover on the floor and full-back Will Feeney booted us up to the 22. From there we launched what can only be described as an unstoppable driving maul which rolled all the way to the try-line for hooker Reece Marshall to score for the ninth time this campaign. Fly-half Tom Price’s conversion attempt went just wide, but we were up and running on nine minutes.

Both sides had been a little cautious in their play with kicking often the preferred option, almost to say ‘come on then, make something happen’. By now our physicality was shining through, whether it be at set piece time, the breakdown or the collisions, with Conor Brockschmidt – who started at No 8 – and Marshall putting in particularly meaty hits.

Again, our maul D was strong as Esher launched their next attack off a driving lineout on 20 minutes, but we were undone when the ball was sent wide at pace to the opposite wing and Joe Parkes dived over for an unconverted try to make it 15-5.

Despite our physicality, which was also evident with the ball in hand as Brockschmidt and tighthead Henry Pearson carried bullishly through the middle, we hadn’t really got going and our error count, especially knock-ons, was rising.

Morley continued to dictate proceedings as the half wore on and a superb 50-22 set up another attack deep in our territory. Once more, we stopped the maul, but Esher built momentum through the following phases and Morley fed centre Myles Rawstron-Rudd for their third try. Morley added the extras and we now trailed 22-5 after 34 minutes.

Right, the next score was going to be crucial and it looked like it was going to be a tough night when flanker Max Heathman was sin-binned for tackling Morley in the air. However, we ended the half the better and looked certain to score from a driving lineout deep in their half, only to knock on at the crucial moment.

From the very start of the second half, we had shown signs of our intent and our physicality levels just didn’t seem to drop. Although further knock-ons thwarted our progress when Hughes made a blistering carry, Esher struggled to leave their half from this moment on.

Superb work at the breakdown from loosehead Keston Lines and Marshall earned a penalty and we kicked to the corner. This time our maul was stopped, but we looked wide and although Esher cut off the danger well to stop Smith, the ball was fed to Hughes and the Scotland 7s international brilliantly found his way over for an unconverted try. A great start to the half and their advantage was cut to 12 points.

We continued to apply the pressure and when Jason Worrall – captain for the night in the absence of Manning and Ryan – broke forward and we pushed Esher back further through Hughes and Marshall, the home side were reduced to 14 as Lorcan Dow was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle.

Although Esher ultimately saw off that particular threat, we were to make the most of our man advantage and hooker Darlington had only been on the field for two minutes before he scored. A dominant scrum on the 22 led to a penalty and Feeney kicking to the corner, resulting in an unstoppable maul which saw the Dutch international plunge over for his seventh of the season. Price stepped up to slot the conversion and there was now only five points in it with 20 minutes to go.

It was all Chinnor now and we could have taken the lead on 65 minutes. We found an edge on the left with replacement centre Will Blakemore sending Worrall racing down the wing and he looked certain to score, only to be stopped five metres out by a strong tackle from Morley. A few phases later and a penalty was awarded, which resulted in us again kicking to the corner – surely this was it. We peeled off the maul and looked destined for the try-line, but the opportunity disappeared when the ball was knocked on.

Not to worry, there was still 13 minutes to go and what followed was an intriguing kick battle between Feeney and Morley which would ultimately have a huge say on which team would launch the next attack. It went our way, with our Australian full-back’s meaty left boot winning the contest and taking us down to the 22. From there we were awarded a penalty off the lineout and we found ourselves back in their corner with five minutes to go. Again, we launched a powerful maul which had our opponents going backwards and Darlington was set to score before it was collapsed by Rouse who got a yellow card for his troubles and a penalty try was awarded. Of course, that also meant that we didn’t have to add what would have been a tough conversion and the seven points hauled us into a 24-22 lead.

It was now a case of ‘next job’ and that was to stop Esher. They looked to play their way through, but they were unable to get any further than ten metres inside our half and one particular tackle from Brockschmidt epitomised the defensive effort as the South African drove his opponent back over half way. We didn’t let up from there and we forced a knock on with two minutes to go as time was running out for the home side, before pinning them back inside their 22 to see out the match.

A superb second-half performance and a display full of grit and desire. A huge five points in our season and we now look to another big game – Leeds Tykes at home next Saturday.

Esher: Waters, Parkes, Peteres, Rawstron-Rudd, Lang, Morley, Thompson; Lowes, Hamilton, Lloyd, Dow, Bullett, Norris, Scott, Rouse.
Reps: Crawley, Murphy, Solway, Donnelly, Bullock.

Chinnor: Feeney, Smith, Worrall, Hughes, Ratukadreu, Price, Carter; Lines, Marshall, Pearson, Down, McNulty, Eames, Heathman, Brockschmidt.
Reps: Darlington, Robinson, Berry, Cave, Blakemore.