Basking in unseasonally high temperatures, Chinnor ran in six tries to beat Cheltenham’s Old Patesians by 45-25.

With Alex Waddingham unfit, Harry Jackman moved to the open side and Ed Devine came into the second row. Ben Ramsdale was added to the replacements.

Old Pats made the quicker start, opening the scoring in the 3rd minute with a penalty goal from George Hughes. On the 18th minute, Mowbray was yellow carded for a high tackle on Old Pats winger Dan Burrows who had to leave the field. It took until the 27th minute for Chinnor to score their first points through a Goode try, converted by James Cathcart to give the home side a 7-3 lead. Seven minutes later Cathcart increased Chinnor’s lead with a penalty goal but Old Pats came back with a try from busy open side flanker Marcus Brown just before half time to make the interval score 10-8 in Chinnor’s favour.

Just after the restart, the visiting fly half Matt Dean found a hole in the Chinnor defence for a try converted by Hughes. Old Pats were back ahead 10-15. This caused an immediate reaction from Chinnor who, in the following 6 minutes hit a purple patch to score three converted tries to put the home side 31-15 ahead

The first came in the 47th minute from a typical Gilbert break, whose speed for his size is remarkable. Two minutes later, Sam Stoop took a flat pass to slide through unopposed to the try line. Three minutes after that, Matt Goode powered over for the third try in 6 minutes. Cathcart converted the first two but, while receiving some medical attention, Gilbert stepped up to convert the last of the three to give a home lead of 31-15.

After this barrage, Old Pats composed themselves and came straight back into the game with a try in the corner from James Aherne to reduce the deficit to 31-20. A 20 minute score free period then ensued as Old Pats upped their intensity. Deadlock was broken when Gilbert accelerated away from the defence on the 75th minute to score under the posts, improved by Cathcart for 38-20. Old Pats would just not lie down and scored a try on 78th minute through fullback Danny Davis to make the score 38-25. Just as the referee, a youthful and unfussy Craig Maxwell-Keys from Staffordshire, raised his whistle for full time, Chinnor’s Chase sliced through for the home side’s sixth converted try to give a match result of 45-25 for Chinnor.

Old Patesians were competitive throughout and reacted positively to the 6 minute blitz that hit them, with their backs finding more holes than Chinnor would like. They just didn’t stop running.

Chinnor will be pleased to have scored so many tries against a side who traditionally never give much away. Apart from the purple patch, they always had to treat the visitors with caution. They will be concerned that the visitor’s tries came from defensive lapses, given their heroic defence-based performance of the previous week. The pack was solid and defensively strong. Chinnor could have had more tries but for fumbles and knock ons. Chinnor’s midfield pair were on song and that man Gilbert again showed his worth with his all round performance, place kicking and two scintillating tries.

Scorers:
Chinnor: Goode 2T; Gilbert 2T; Stoop T; Chase T; Cathcart 6C, PG
Old Patesians: Brown T; Dean T; Aherne T; Davis T; Hughes PG, C

Chinnor team:
Chase, Seymour, Goode, Stoop, Gray, Cathcart (Colver 73), Jones, Winpenny, Tattersall, Pickett (Whelan 56), Devine (Ramsdale 71), Smith, Mowbray, Jackman, Gilbert