In blustery conditions, Chinnor had to dig deep to overcome Redingensians by 12 points to 5 in a fiercely contested battle.

With Ricky Hopwood not recovering from a hamstring strain, debutant Max Mitcham was handed the number nine shirt and Tristan Corpe came in on the left wing for Chinnor. With the visitors boasting probably the largest second row in the known universe, both packs jostled for domination throughout the whole match.

Chinnor began the scoring with a short-range penalty from the trusty boot of James Cathcart. He repeated the dose some 10 minutes later on the 18th minute from 50 metres to give Chinnor a 6-0 lead. Redingensians, with the wind against them, manfully contrived to attack but were repulsed by a determined Chinnor defence. The last score of the first half came again from long range in the form of a penalty goal to Cathcart to give Chinnor a 9-0 interval lead.

Redingensians came out with the wind at their back, firing on all cylinders and must have been disappointed when a 10 minute camp out in the Chinnor 22 ended with a penalty against for holding on. Chinnor cleared to the half way line and from the lineout, the Chinnor backs attacked the visitors’ 22. From one wing, the ball came back in midfield to Stoop whose instant snap dropkick for three points on the 62nd minute surprised everyone. The restart was collected by ‘Gensians full back Jevon Marsh. Tall and speedy, he ran straight back through the Chinnor defence, handing off at least four would-be tacklers to score under the posts. The conversion attempt was something of an oddity. Shaun Brown began his run up and the speedy Chinnor backs rushed out legally and quickly to harry the kicker who promptly stopped half way through his run up and did not attempt any form of kick. With confusion spreading, the referee ordered a re-take. Once again the Chinnor backs rushed out and Brown was sufficiently distracted to send the kick a few feet from the ground in the direction of the corner flag. In such a tight game, the failure of the conversion was of great benefit to Chinnor whose lead was now only 12 – 5.

‘Gensians attacked again and were stopped dead in their tracks with a showstopper tackle from Chinnor’s tight head Pickett – the second such influential tackle in the match for Pickett. The last 10 minutes were all Chinnor attack and Redingensians’ defence. With each side cancelling each other out, the referee blew for no side and an important 12-5 victory for Chinnor.

This was a match of two very evenly matched sides. Cathcart’s boot was Chinnor’s saviour and Redingensians’ full back Marsh always looked dangerous. Pickett’s towering tackles were influential in holding the Chinnor line firm.

Scorers:
Chinnor: Cathcart 3PG; Stoop DG
Redingensians: Marsh T

Chinnor team:
Chase, Seymour, Goode, Stoop, Cathcart, Mitcham (Jones 72), Winpenny (c), Tattersall, Pickett (Whelan 33-34, 56), Jackman, Smith, Gilbert, Hastings, Mowbray (Devine 72)
Replacements: Whelan, Devine, Jones