This top of the table clash was always going to be a tight affair but Chinnor’s dogged determination and counters outweighed the strength at the scrum of Cinderford.

William’s said “ This was a high quality game. We were tactically spot on under pressure from the Cinderford pack , our attacking structure kept them moving around and we always looked dangerous with ball in hand
“ much credit to Cinderford they had a strong set of forwards but we maintained our discipline.”

It was Chinnor who were first on the scoreboard after a series of possession resulted in a penalty in front of the posts . Caolan Ryan successfully converted the penalty and that was to set the scene for his 100% success in front of the posts for the afternoon.

Hemming returned the favor shortly thereafter with another simple slot through the posts

Cinderford then went hunting and after a top drawer try saving tackle by Reon Joseph on Ed Bogue a few phases later Matt Lane burst through from the 22m for a try which Hemming converted

Ryan then reduced the deficit to 10-6 with a successful penalty . Chinnor then went about their business with flair . Kieron Goss hit a great inside line and swerved past the Cinderford defense to go over. Ryan again converted

Hemming leveled the scores with a simple penalty to make it 13-13 which was the score at half time

Chinnor made the better start in the second half and a penalty by Ryan was followed by some strong pressure by Chinnor . From the near perfect catch and drive from the 5m line Dan George was awarded the try which was -yes you guessed it -successfully converted by Ryan.13-23

Following a team warning at the scrums Matt Beasley was sent to the bin which was shortly followed by Ricky Cano leaving the field injured. As we had no more fit props for the next 7 minutes Chinnor played with 13 men and not surprisingly this left space which Cinderford exploited down the blindside for Sam Smith to go over in the corner. The unconverted try took the score to 18-23

There were then a series of attacks and counter attacks but with Chinnor pinning Cinderford in their 22m they came under pressure to concede the ball enabling Chinnor to counter .After a previous team warning Cinderford’s Harry Hone left the pitch for a high tackle . Step forward Ryan .18-26

With 6 minutes to go Cinderford narrowed the gap with a successful penalty following which Chinnor stood firm to close the game out for a well earned victory

This was a brave performance from Chinnor and continues their strong start in this very close league. The challenges continue as we look forward to Bishops Stortford at home next week . But on a day when our 2nds beat Cinderford United away and our 3rd’s and Vets won this was a good day at the office for the Villagers

Attendance 539
Man of the match Caolan Ryan