Chinnor, with Stoop and Goode returning to the back line, took their time to overcome stubborn Southend at Kingsey Road in grim and grisly conditions.

Southend began the better of the two sides when, in the fourth minute, after a series of good scrums, they scored a pushover try with Cook touching down. Chinnor began their scoring when Cathcart slotted a penalty goal in the 10th minute to make the match score 5-3 in favour of the visitors.

Chinnor began to gain territorial advantage and looked certain to score on at least three occasions when the greasy ball was dropped as the line approached. Gray, in the 19th minute, eventually got on the end of a sweeping backs move to touch down in the corner to put Chinnor 8-5 ahead in the match. In one of Southend’s forays into the Chinnor half, a fracas ensued in the 31st minute, at which the referee, Mr Karl Kirkpatrick, took a dim view of the behaviour of Southend’s Lee Guest and dismissed him from the field. It remained 8-5 to the home side at half time.

At half time, the injured Cathcart was replaced by Will Millett, whose tackler bashing run in the 58th minute brought a second try for Chinnor and Colver’s conversion increased the lead to 15-5 for Chinnor. New boy, Adrian Hales, on for Jones, soon made his presence felt with a mazy run to score a third try for Chinnor in the 77th minute. Millett’s conversion made the lead 22-5 for Chinnor. Chinnor, desperate for a bonus point try with two minutes remaining, forced Southend into dropping the ball. Millett pounced to fly hack the ball down the field twice. It crossed the line amid a flurry of diving players for the referee, who had done well to keep up with play, ruling out the try – and then blew for full time.

Southend, with a good pack, were obdurate opponents and defended well. They coped well when down to 14 men.

Chinnor were unusually lacklustre, mainly due to the difficult weather conditions and will be upset at dropping so many balls in try scoring situations. This was, for both sides, a low energy affair with, at one stage, a period of 40 minutes between scores. Sawyer proved to have an iron jaw and, with Hastings, topped the tackle count. Berry was again mobile and effective and Millett’s lively interventions brought a sparkle to a dank and dull day.

Scorers:
Chinnor: Grey T; Millet T; Hales T; Cathcart PG; Colver C; Millet C
Southend: Cook T

Chinnor team:
Colver, Gray, Goode, Stoop, Fielding, Cathcart (Millett 40), Jones (Hales 48), Pickett, Holyland, Berry (Winpenny 68), Mowbray (Hughes 59), Smith, Sawyer, Hastings, Gilbert
Replacements: Winpenny, Whelan, Hughes, Millett, Hales