Photography by Aaron Bayliss

This Saturday saw Chinnor return to Kingsey Road for their first home game of 2017 against local rivals Redingensians Rams. The last time these sides met Chinnor won 32-17 in what was a close and feisty affair, with Chinnor pulling away from the Rams in the closing stages.

Chinnor made three changes to the side that beat Barnstaple last weekend with Ben Manning replacing Richard Thorpe on the flank, Bevon Armitage in at inside centre and Oscar Heath making his first start of the season after a shoulder injury in the summer. Charles Broughton was on the bench after joining from Richmond.

Given the time of year, it was touch and go whether the game would go ahead but after a pitch inspection the ground was passed fit an hour before kick off.

On a bitterly cold day, the conditions were difficult for both sides to put together any sustained passage of play but Chinnor opened the scoring after 6 minutes with a Strang penalty. Redingensians winger Conor Corrigan was somewhat ambitious fielding a rolling ball in his own 22 and endeavouring to run out of defence he was tackled in front of the posts. Slow release of the ball allowed the referee to award a penalty to Chinnor.

Chinnor had a period of sustained pressure in the first quarter but were guilty of spilling the ball in good positions on a number of occasions. After 18 minutes, the Rams were penalised for not releasing in their 22 after excellent work by Alex Bradley and Basil Strang took the points to make it 6-0.

Redingensians immediately responded and in trying to clear their lines, Chinnor had successive kicks charged down which resulted in them infringing and allowing Sam Guttridge to kick a penalty from close range. The Rams fly half then missed a second eminently kickable penalty some minutes later which would have levelled the scores.

Redingensians paid for that miss soon after when Chinnor made their way up the pitch, stole a Rams lineout and Basil Strang broke clear to score a fine individual try under the posts. This he duly converted to make it 13-3 after half an hour.

Following a poor restart by the visitors, Bevon Armitage broke clear for Luke Hibberd to go over only for the try to be disallowed for a forward pass. It was all Chinnor and a rolling maul made its way into the Rams 22 in the last minute of the first half leading to a penalty in front of the posts. Strang once again kept the scoreboard moving to make it 16-3 at the break.

That was the way it stayed for Chinnor in what was to be an attritional second half. There were a number of unforced errors by both sides with very little pattern to the game not helped by the worsening conditions. On 54 minutes, Chinnor prop Jay Tyack was yellow carded and the Rams took full advantage soon after when full back Foxley kicked ahead for Jak Rossiter to collect a fortunate bounce and go in under the posts. Sam Guttridge added the extras to make it 16-10.

It was now game on and only a superb covering tackle by CJ Osazuwa a metre from the Chinnor line saved a certain try by Foxley. The final 15 minutes were highlighted by some outstanding tackling from both sides but their defences held firm for Chinnor to run out winners in this hard fought derby in which Basil Strang scored all the hosts points.

Redingensians coach Mike Tewkesbury said: "I was disappointed because we put in such a wholehearted effort. Chinnor are a tough side and it is difficult to come here and win. The game went right down to the wire".

Chinnor’s director of rugby Matt Williams was also somewhat disappointed: "For all the possession we had, our final pass or crucial decisions let us down. We left three or four scoring opportunities on the paddock. That said, all credit must go to a well-organised Redingensians defence and we are happy to take the win. We are now unbeaten at home in the last 12 months and that is an important statistic in our endeavour to be in the top two places".

Chinnor’s win moves them back to the top of National 2 South with several of the other games postponed.

Teams

Chinnor
Kieran Goss, Oscar Heath, Danny Barnes ©, Bevon Armitage, Luke Hibberd, Basil Strang, Greg Goodfellow, Ricky Cano, Jamie Townsend, Jay Tyack, Nathan Hannay, CJ Osazuwa, Ben Manning, Alex Bradley, Tom Burns

Interchanges: Tom Price, Koree Britton, Richard Thorpe, Henry Lamont, Charlie Broughton

Redingensians
Ollie Foxley, Jak Rossiter, Steve Bryant, Dan Barnes, Conor Corrigan, Sam Gutteridge, Miles Lloyd, Kieran Ball, Ben Henderson, Sean McDonald-Roberts, Phil Hoy, Ollie Taylor, Ross Crame, Tom Vooght ©, Andy Amor

Interchanges: Jack Steadman, Antony Marris, Colin Thompson, Craig Nightingale, Spike Chandler

Scorers

Chinnor
Tries (time): Strang 27
Conversions (time): Strang 28
Penalty Goals (time): Strang 6, 19, 40

Redingensians
Tries (time): Rossiter 58
Conversions (time): Guttridge 59
Penalty Goals (time): Guttridge 22

Referee: Luis Caviglia
Attendance: 520
Half time score: 16-3
Full time score: 16-10
Star man: CJ Osazuwa - Chinnor

Chinnor Interchanges:
Broughton for Heath (46)
Price for Cano (47)
Cano for Hibberd (55)
Lamont (64)
Thorpe for Bradley (69)

Redingensians Interchanges:
Chandler for Lloyd (50)
Nightingale for Amor (54)
Thompson for Crame (63)
Steadman for McDonald-Roberts (65)
Marris for Ball (69)