In a howling gale reminiscent of a home match, Chinnor eventually overcame a competitive Cheltenham side at the Prince of Wales Stadium by 18 points to 7.

With Matthew Hutchings now out until next season, Joe Winpenny captained the Chinnor XV. After last week’s bright start, Andy Berry was preferred at tight head with Ed Devine replacing the unfortunate Hutchings.

Play started with Chinnor losing the toss to play with the gale like wind at their backs. Cheltenham’s aggressive defence, particularly at the ruck, confined Chinnor, in the first quarter, to a number of long range penalty attempts which proved unsuccessful.

In the 18th minute, Chinnor thought they were in with the first score of the match when Morgan’s final pass was cynically batted away by Cheltenham winger Jack Davies, who earned a yellow card for the misdemeanour. Cathcart converted the penalty kick to open the scoring 3-0 to Chinnor.
Cheltenham were not to be denied and used their pick and drive game to great effect. Pressing the Chinnor line, the ball was turned over by Chinnor to allow a prodigious 70 metre kick from Cathcart. With Chinnor recovering the ball, a series of rucks eventually freed the ball to Goode to power over for the opening try on the 28th minute. With Cathcart’s conversion, Chinnor now led 10-0. A further penalty just before half time by Cathcart allowed the visitors to go in 13-0 ahead.

With the wind now at their backs, Cheltenham began brightly from the whistle. A long series of pick and drives eventually got Tigers’ lock Joe Garner over the whitewash on the 45th minute for Cheltenham’s opening score. With the added points from Wilcox, Cheltenham were back in the match at 7-13. They continued to compete aggressively and only smart scramble defence from the visitors denied the home side a score. Despite this pressure, Chinnor scored the next try after a series of smart rolling mauls well organised by replacement hooker Cawston. Driving to the Cheltenham line, the ball was worked wide to Williams who tried to work his way inside his defender. The ball was lost backwards and a sharp pick up and acceleration to the line by Corpe put Chinnor 18-7 ahead on the 55th minute – which proved to be the final score.

Matches played under extreme weather conditions are always unpredictable and both sides managed the conditions well. The Cheltenham pack was quick, organised and aggressive at the breakdown and caused Chinnor problems all day. They certainly didn’t play like a pack flirting with relegation.

Chinnor worked some useful positions, particularly down the right hand side, but were prone to a degree of panic with the last pass.

For Chinnor, Cathcart managed the game well and some prodigious kicks took the pressure off the visiting side. Berry seems to be adapting well to the tight head role and made some good tackles and turnovers. Great praise is due Cawston for his covering both the tight head and hooker positions with distinction and Hastings who moved from the No 8 position to inside centre, with some skill, when Goode had to retire. Devine’s tackling was a bonus and the back row seem to be a nicely balanced unit with a crafty Harrison, a rumbustious Vickers and a dynamic Hastings. The player who contributed most to the Chinnor victory, however, was Andrew Smith who continually stopped anyone coming through, took the ball up muscularly and tidied up anything that looked messy – an all round athletic and powerful display.

Scorers:
Cheltenham: Garner T; Wilcox C
Chinnor: Goode T; Corpe T; C, 2PG

Chinnor team: Williams, Morgan, Goode (Cawston 73), Angell (Green 59), Corpe, Cathcart, Hopwood, Winpenny (c), Tattersall, Berry 32, Devine (Mowbray 55), Smith, Vickers, Harrison, Hastings
Replacements: Cawston, Mowbray, Green