CHINNOR endured a frustrating afternoon, but left the Wirral with three points as they drew an entertaining encounter with Caldy.

On a day when we were not at our best, the hosts took it to us and proved why they will be a tough side to beat on home turf.

However, it looked like Chinnor were going to leave with a bonus-point victory when Bader Pretorius slotted a 76th-minute penalty, but Caldy hit back just moments later with three points of their own as it ended all square.

Despite this we still left Paton Field with three points, helping us to stay fourth in the National League 1 table, nine points behind leaders Cinderford but with a game in hand.

Director of Rugby, Richard Thorpe made two changes, one positional, from the side which beat Blackheath last weekend, handing homegrown winger Seb Scott his First XV debut on the right wing in place of the injured Dean Hammond. Ryan Crowley switched to the left wing, while on the bench prop Elliot Chilvers returned to the matchday squad following injury.

The four-hour journey to Caldy was straight-forward and we made an excellent start to lead 19-3 after 18 minutes.

We were on top early on and a long miss-pass went to ground but was hacked on by James Bourton. The ball made its way into the hands of Crowley and the winger raced down the left and dived over out wide for his third try in as many games. Outside centre Bourton added the conversion to put us into a 7-0 lead after four minutes.

Caldy quickly replied courtesy of a Ben Jones penalty, but we soon extended our advantage to 11 points. Advantage was played as we pressured the try-line and although a discretion denied Andy Berry a try, we took advantage of the resulting penalty.

The driving maul got going, but there was always space on the blind and tighthead prop Rob Hardwick was fed by Luke Carter to dive over in the corner for his first try for the Club. Bourton expertly converted from the touchline to make it 14-3.

We kept the hammer down and a driving maul proved the catalyst for our third try as hooker Cameron Terry spun out of the side and touched down for his second try in as many games.

We now led by 16 points and were seemingly in complete control, but as the rain arrived in already heavy conditions, Caldy responded well while we let our foot off the gas.

They deservedly scored their first try of the game on 24 minutes when pick and goes off a driving maul sucked us in and Michael Barlow spun out of a tackle to go over. Jones added the extras to cut our lead to nine points.

Caldy had their tails up and, having been silenced by the opening 18 minutes, the home supporters were now in full voice and they enjoyed their second try on the half-hour mark. The ball made its way quickly out to Nicholas Royle who raced down his wing, hacked on, evaded Kieran Goss’ attempted tackle and dived over for a well-taken try. Jones again converted to make it 17-19.

That is how it stayed at half-time, although Chinnor ended the opening 40 minutes on top after brilliant work from Willie Ryan and Max Clementson turned over possession. However, Caldy defended well on their own try-line to prevent us from extending our lead.

The hosts made an electric start to the second half and we found ourselves on the backfoot when Nyle Davidson broke the gain line and the ball was spread wide for Royle to go over for his second try of the match. Jones again added the extras to make it 24-19 after 42 minutes.

Chinnor responded well to going behind and won a penalty straight after the restart and kicked to the corner, but as we mauled our way towards the try-line Caldy overturned possession and cleared.

We were still on top and looked to have secured the four-try bonus-point on 50 minutes when No 8 Fred Tuilagi forced his way over, but it was not given.

Four minutes later and we did score our fourth try. Pretorius, who had already made an impact off the bench, made good ground and the ball was recycled to Nick Smith who threw a long pass out to Crowley. It was two against one and Bourton was sent racing down the left to dive over in the corner. He was unable to convert his own try, but we were now level at 24-all.

Caldy again responded well and won a penalty just two minutes later, which Jones saw come back off the right post and hit the ground. Pretorius did brilliantly to win the battle on the floor and we cleared from the resultant penalty.

The errors were creeping in for both sides, but as the match entered the final 13 minutes, we were gaining the upper hand.
Goss came close to profiting from cross-field kicks from Pretorius and Smith, while a knock-on dented our progress in another attack after Crowley had broken the gain line.

While lineouts within 10m were only missed opportunities, Goss, who had moved to the right wing from full-back, nearly scored a fine individual try when he raced down his wing and half-volleyed Smith’s cross-field kick past the full-back, but Caldy did well to deal with it and found touch.

We continued to put the pressure on and a penalty on 76 minutes gave us the opportunity to go for the posts, with Pretorius slotting the three points to make it 27-24.

You could be forgiven for thinking that had secured a narrow hard-fought away victory, but if you had learnt anything from this game, Caldy were not going to give in.

Unfortunately, we were penalised a couple of minutes later and Jones stepped up to send the ball through the posts to again level the score.

That is how it ended, but the four tries ensured we left Caldy with three points on a day when we were not quite at the races. Perhaps they could prove to be three crucial points later on in the season.

Caldy: Gourlay, Royle, Titherington, Barlow, B Jones, Wyman, Aimscough, Rushton, Hearn, Parker, S Dickinson, T Sanders, Ridgway, Davidson, JJ Dickinson.
Reps: J Sanders, Clarke, D Jones, Aigbokhae, Cartmill.

Chinnor: Goss, Scott, Bourton, Yawayawa, Crowley, N Smith, Carter, Tonga’uiha, Terry, Hardwick, W Ryan, Brokschmidt, Berry, Clementson, Tuilagi.
Reps: Chilvers, Lomas, Fleckney, Pretorius, Grose.