Chinnor came close to beating Richmond in London and would have come away with more if it wasn't for inconsistent decisions made at key points in the game.

Ken Vaughan writes:

Richmond 23 pts Chinnor 21 pts

This result was massively disappointing from a Chinnor perspective. They were on the wrong end of two refereeing decisions which undoubtedly cost them the game. The first occurred when a deliberate trip was immediately followed by a deliberate knock-on, when Chinnor were in the act of scoring and was a hard one to take on board. The exchange referee chose to ignore these incidents even when the assistant referee, who was right on the spot, recommended a penalty try along with a yellow card. The second happened when Toby Prescott was incorrectly penalised for being offside when he intercepted a pass from the Richmond No.8 to their scrum half, and had a clear field in front of him - a pretty poor call.

Chinnor made 4 changes in their starting line-up with Ben Hewitt, who returned from the Antipodes on Monday, at fly half, resulting in James Cathcart going onto the bench. James Eckert also given his first start, as was Max Williams in place of the suspended Angus Neilson. They were also missing the influential Sam Black, which meant Harry Jackman slotting into the second row and Adam Hastings coming in at No.6.

Richmond took the lead in the 2nd minute with a Matt Hart penalty. Right wing David West then crossed for a Richmond try following a defence splitting run by No.8 Guillaume Schueller. With Hart adding the conversion, Richmond were 10 points to the good after just 14 minutes play. Chinnor then broke from the middle of the field only to be thwarted illegally in the act of scoring. Not to be denied, they were running the ball at every available opportunity. A delightful move down the tight side saw the ball transferred to Eric Brown, who gathered his own chip ahead and pass back inside to the supporting Toby Prescott to go over for the try. With Ben Hewitt slotting the conversion, Chinnor were back in the game at the half-time whistle.

Joe Winpenny came on at the start of the second half for the injured Tom Whelan. Within a minute of the restart, Chinnor scored. Max Williams, who had an outstanding first 40 minutes, was first to the breakdown on a Richmond ball. He secured possession and fed the supporting Eric Brown who crossed the line with three Richmond players hanging onto him. With Ben Hewitt adding the conversion, Chinnor took the lead. They could well have extended this but Toby Prescott was adjudged off side which stifled what should have been a golden opportunity. Substitute Luke Cousins then kicked a penalty. Tries by wingers Jonathan Webbe, and David West, his second, gave Richmond a 9 point advantage during a phase in the game where Chinnor found it difficult to get their hands on the ball. In the dying stages, Chinnor then came agonisingly close to winning. A try by Trevor Powell from a quickly taken tap penalty, converted by Cathcart, on for the injured Darren Oxley, gave them hope. They were then awarded a penalty on the half way line with the James Cathcart attempt falling just inches under the cross-bar.

It is said that teams earn their luck. Well Chinnor fought long and so very hard on Saturday but luck did not arrive in their direction. Taking a major positive out of this game, it illustrated that Chinnor are well able to compete at this level. An excellent debut by young Max Williams with Ben Hewitt also starting where he left off last season, were particular highlights.

Video highlights can be found at https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/chinnor/?section=videos_photos_view&video_id=978