Chinnor 36 – Redingensians 14

The Rams kicked off with Chinnor playing into the sun and the wind and initiating the first attacks. The Rams then opened the scoring when scrum half Illingworth made a clean break, following a turn over, to run 40 metres and score under the posts on 7 minutes. Fly half Humberstone converted the try. At this stage of the game Chinnor were giving away possession by trying to force the pass. Lots of pressure from Chinnor was eventually rewarded with flanker George Oliver going over on 22 minutes with Bentley adding the extras. Alex Bradley left the field with an injury and was replaced by Ben Manning, Immediately after this break in play Chinnor gained quick ball from a turn over allowing Chinnor captain Danny Barnes to break the Rams line and a beautifully timed pass put Bentley over in the corner to give Chinnor the lead. This Bentley converted himself with a fine kick form the touch line. Just before half time Rams came storming back with a slick offloading putting Collis in under the posts which was duly converted again by Humberstone making the scores level at 14-14 at half time.

The turning point of the game came early in the second half. A period of sustained pressure on the Chinnor line and 16 phases of play were met by an outstanding display of aggressive defense which resulted in turnover ball. This allowed Chinnor to clear their lines and take play up field for George Oliver to score his second, and Chinnor’s third try converted by Bentley who also converted a penalty a few minutes later. The bonus point try was sealed following a sublime reactionary ball stealing maneuver by Ben Manning allowing Rhys Lawrence to eventually power over. From then on it was nearly all Chinnor who rounded off the afternoon with a final try in the 76th minute by Henry Lamont, converted by Bentley.
Next week Chinnor are away to Worthing who are revitalised this season and will provide an interesting challenge.