CHINNOR gave it everything and so nearly claimed victory in a gritty performance against Cambridge.

The record books will say a 31-27 victory for the hosts - but we will remember it for a gutsy display full of heart and one which will hopefully provide a platform to build on.

Allow yourself a minute to ponder what if and it was, in all honesty, a match we could have won, but it was a performance to be proud of - after a tough fortnight, to score four tries and return from second-placed Cambridge with two points is extremely encouraging.

Jason Worrall continued his superb scoring form, diving over for his 11th and 12th tries of the season, while Nick Smith scored 12 points to help him break the 100-point mark for the Club.

Six changes - one positional - were made to the side which started against Esher a fortnight ago. Max Clementson started on his return, with Grant Hughes making his debut, while Josh Pieterse, Charley Robinson and Dean Hammond came into the XV.

A strong wind was blowing down the pitch towards the car park end on our arrival and the home side chose to play with the conditions at their backs in the first half - although it was less forceful at ground level anyway once the match got underway.

It took Cambridge three minutes to open the scoring. We had made a positive start defensively, but we just bit a little too hard and the space it left was exploited, resulting in powerful winger Kwaku Asiedu charging over from around 30m. Fly-half Steff James converted.

Although the wind had died down, kicking into the conditions was still proving tricky but back-to-back penalties allowed fly-half Will Feeney to boot us up to the 22. Cambridge dealt with the initial situation by stealing our lineout, but we were straight back on the attack and after patient build-up Worrall ran a fine arching line from outside centre and finished well in the corner. Smith’s conversion attempt was held up in the wind, but we were off the mark after 12 minutes.

Four minutes later and we were ahead, with a try of the season contender from Smith. The full-back brilliantly broke out of his own half, beating three players, and feeding Pieterse. The loosehead continued the counter a good 20m further and Smith was in support to accept the return pass and score under the posts. Champagne Rugby and Smith added the extras to make it 12-7 after 17 minutes.

Cambridge had more defending to do before they replied. Asiedu was again the try-scorer with full-back Joe Tarrant the creator. Again, James converted from out wide as they went 14-12 up.

Almost immediately from the kick-off, there was concern for Smith as he went on another of his meandering runs through the centre of the field. However, he slipped on the soft turf and was caught high by Anthony Maka who had already committed to the tackle at normal height. Nothing more than a penalty was awarded and thankfully, Nick was ok to continue.

Five minutes or so later and we scored another excellent try. Patience is a virtue and we had it in abundance as we must have gone through 15-20 phases before Worrall brilliantly finished in the left-hand corner. Again, the wind hampered the conversion attempt but we were back in front at 17-14.

That was how it stayed at half-time, but No 8 Willie Ryan putting his body on the line to stop Asiedu and a break from wing Kieran Goss were among the highlights of the remaining 11 minutes of the first period.

Cambridge emerged from the break with the bit between their teeth, dominating the opening quarter of an hour to lead 31-17.

The writing was on the wall a couple of minutes into the half when centre Scott Lloyd and No 8 Maka carried strongly, and wing Dan Brough came close to scoring. A scrum in front of the posts was the result of a ruck penalty and the ball was out in a flash and whipped out to the left where Asiedu completed his hat-trick. The try went unconverted as they went two points into the lead.

They continued to keep the hammer down and a penalty soon after the restart saw James kick down to our 22. After mauling a good 15m forward, they played out across to the left and Brough and James combined to set up Asiedu for his fourth. Again, the wind hampered the conversion attempt, but we now trailed 24-17.

Their tails were up and on 55 minutes their lead became 14 points. It had initially looked like the purple patch was over when Goss stopped Asiedu and forced a turnover which resulted in Max Clementson scooping up the loose ball and Feeney sending a delightful kick down to the 22. However, Cambridge were able to relaunch another attack from their own half as Lloyd broke through a gap and scampered into the open backfield to dive over despite the best efforts of Goss. James added the extras to make it 31-17.

After such a brilliant first half, we felt we deserved something out of the game and we responded well to make sure we would at least come home with a four-try bonus-point. A loose ball was hacked on by openside flanker Alfie North and centre Hughes gave chase, putting Tarrant under so much pressure that his hurried clearance only found touch on the 22. Cambridge defended well initially, earning a penalty as our driving maul rumbled towards the try-line, but we were soon back on the attack.

Again, we turned over possession, with Hughes, hooker Robinson and North securing the ball. Advantage was then played and with the ball in his hands, Feeney thought he would try his luck, chipping over the top, chasing and collecting his kick to run in for a score. A brilliant try and Smith’s conversion cut the deficit to seven points with 19 minutes to go.

A Smith penalty then soon reduced it further to four as a thrilling finale was set up, but we were then forced to dig even deeper to keep Cambridge at bay.

Tighthead Josh McNulty was yellow carded and they looked to make their extra man count. Asiedu was denied his fifth of the afternoon for crossing, while we defended superbly with Conor Brockschmidt providing the perfect definition of putting your body on the line.

A scrum in front of our posts was thwart with danger, but a great set-piece then led to the ball being stolen at a ruck and scrum-half Luke Carter threw a long pass out to Goss. The wing was still basically on his own try-line, but he is Kieran Goss and he proceeded to beat three men and carry us a good 60m up the field with a barnstorming break.

From there we ended the match in the Cambridge half - could we claim victory late on? Unfortunately not, and the cheers from the home side were full of relief as the final whistle sounded.

A much-improved performance from a fortnight ago and we can head to Hull next week full of heart as we aim to get back to winning ways.

Cambridge: Tarrant, Asiedu, Williams, Lloyd, Brough, James, Dabell, Morley, Brownlie, Walker, Frost, Baxter, Bretag-Norris, Adams, Maka.
Reps: Priestley, Brownhill, Irvine, Duffin, Green.

Chinnor: Smith, Goss, Worrall, Hughes, Hammond, Feeney, Carter, Pieterse, Robinson, McNulty, Down, Brockschmidt, North, Clementson, Ryan.
Reps: Darlington, Lines, Heathman, Price, Walsh.