IF THERE’S one match which sells itself it’s Chinnor-Cinderford and this latest installment certainly didn’t disappoint.

Expect a tight, attritional affair with plenty of drama when these two sides face off and you are always treated to a humdinger.

Our last two meetings at Kingsey Road had been decided by last-minute tries and, in all honesty, it looked certain the 2023 edition would be the same.

Thankfully, that would prove not to be the case as Cinderford – usually so clinical at lineout time – were unable to convert from two late driving mauls, with a knock on in the last play bringing up the final whistle.

Relief, elation, everyone supporting Chinnor felt it, and the magnitude of this win cannot be questioned with the bonus-point victory taking us five points clear of the bottom three and up to tenth after defeats for Esher and Taunton Titans.

Josh Hodson said before the game that he was hoping to make it 100 points in a Chinnor jersey that afternoon and that meant two tries. The rest is history as the winger crossed twice – making it five tries in his last four games – to help us into a 26-22 lead after 53 minutes.

We dominated the second half until the latter stages – we just couldn’t add to our tally – and thankfully the visitors didn’t snatch the victory from us as they have done on quite a few occasions here in the past.

After a lengthy injury list in February, we were boosted by the return of Reece Marshall, Josh McNulty, Willie Ryan, Dean Hammond and Jason Worrall to the starting XV for this fixture and they have just the 35 tries between them this season.

We started strongly, with early carries from full-back Will Feeney and lock Henry Pearson – who produced a man-of-the-match performance – setting the tone.

It didn’t take long for us to open the scoring and the first scrum of the day provided the platform. A solid scrum and we were on our way, before Hodson ran on to a fine crossfield kick from fly-half Tom Price to score an unconverted try out wide – a great start.

Cinderford hadn’t really got going and when they did try to enjoy a bit of possession inside their own half, superb work from loosehead prop Keston Lines forced the turnover and when Price kicked the resulting penalty deep into the visitors’ half, we were in business. The driving maul was unstoppable and flanker Max Heathman, who has been outstanding all season, touched down for his first try for the Club. Price added the extras and we now led 12-0 after 16 minutes.

A fantastic start and there was only one team in it, but we were about to be dealt another injury blow as Ryan was again forced off to be replaced by the also returning Conor Brockschmidt.

By now the visitors were starting to get up a bit of momentum and a series of penalties gave them good field position, with wing Morgan Adderly-Jones claiming Mike Wilcox’s crossfield kick and touching down. Scrum-half Mike Austin converted the score and our lead was cut to five.

Unfortunately, Cinderford were now to enjoy the upper hand for the rest of the half and when Heathman was sin-binned for a high tackle, they added a further 15 points to lead 22-12 at the interval.

Their second try was courtesy of a powerful maul which hooker Nathan Taylor scored from, before Austin finished off a fine flowing move after centre George Gladding had released wing Will Baldwin with a fine offload. Austin converted the former and slotted a penalty before the break as they finished the opening 40 minutes with a ten-point lead.

We needed to rediscover our intensity from the opening quarter of an hour and it had all gone a little flat at Kingsey Road. That was pretty much the message to the players at half-time and boy did they respond after the break.

Within three minutes of the restart we were back within three points. Marshall carried well off a lineout and we went wide with Worrall finding Hodson. The winger still had plenty of work to do from 20m out, but he just couldn’t be stopped, beating three defenders to produce a stunning finish and bring up 100 points for the Club. Price stepped up to add the extras and the scoreboard now read 19-22.

We kept the hammer down and Cinderford were now pinned in their own half, with penalty after penalty putting them under the cosh. It was just a matter of time before we would score and a player would be sin-binned, and when Marshall plunged over at the back of a maul – Price brilliantly converting – we not only led 26-22 but were also a man up with No 8 George Angell in the bin.

Four points is nothing in rugby and we needed to add to our tally while we were on top. Scrum-half Luke Carter’s blistering break and a particularly bullish carry from tighthead McNulty kept the pressure on, but the closest we came to another try was Pearson being stopped short on 67 minutes. Still we applied the pressure and the next time we were awarded a penalty we opted for the posts, but Price’s effort from some 40m sailed just wide of the left upright.

This was already getting a little bit tense and it was about to become even more nerve-wracking for the spectators. Cinderford had now escaped their own 22 and nearly scored a try out of nothing when they hacked on from half-way and luckily centre Grant Hughes beat wing Adderly-Jones in the foot race to dot down behind our own try-line. The resulting goal-line drop out would provide the visitors with a platform to go in search of the match-winner – they couldn’t could they?

After all of our dominance, the visitors were now in the ascendency and brilliant defence virtually on our own try-line kept them at bay, before replacement Will Cave and Lines carried us up the pitch, before Pita Ratukadreu brilliantly chased after a Carter box-kick as we attempted to push the Gloucestershire side back up the pitch.

However, they kept on coming and a penalty allowed Wilcox to kick them to within ten metres. Cinderford are all about the set-piece and this looked perilous, but we defended the maul well only to be penalised at a ruck. Another penalty and again they stuck it in the corner.

Last play and last chance saloon. Would we keep them at bay or would they force their way over? It was a tough watch as Taylor threw into the lineout, but it was well contested and the Cinderford jumper was forced into a knock on. The whistled sounded and that was it, Kingsey Road roared with jubilation.

It could’ve gone either way, but we were thankful it was our day, while the severity of the injuries that Ryan (hamstring) and Hodson (shoulder) suffered will have to assessed. We’ll enjoy this for now, but it’s a case of next job and that is Friday night at Esher who are only two points behind us.

Chinnor: Feeney, Hodson, Worrall, Hughes, Hammond, Price, Carter; Lines, Marshall, McNulty, Eames, Pearson, Manning, Heathman, Ryan.
Reps: Darlington, Harewood, Brockschmidt, Cave, Ratukadreu.

Cinderford: Forrester, Baldwin, Gladding, Boulton, Adderly-Jones, Wilcox, Austin; Porter, Taylor, Knight, Jerrum, Holliday, Lane, Fissenden, Angell.
Reps: Smart, Brockett, Hodge, Baker, Williams.