CHINNOR endured another frustrating afternoon as they suffered back-to-back home defeats in a narrow loss to Cambridge.

The visitors were good value for their bonus-point victory in a National League 1 contest which saw the lead change hands five times.

Trailing by nine points, we showed grit to wrestle control of the final stages and claim losing and four-try bonus-points from a match we were, for the most part, second best.

The highlight of the day was the identity of that late try-scorer with homegrown winger Seb Scott coming off the bench to dive over for his first try for our First XV.

Chinnor made six changes, one positional, from the side which started last week’s defeat at home to Darlington Mowden Park.

Josh Hodson made his first start since rejoining the Club, while James Bourton, Elliot Chilvers, Ben Manning and Mike van Vuuren were named in the XV. Skipper Nick Smith moving from full-back to fly-half was the one positional switch.

There were plenty of changes on the bench too, with scrum-half Jack Walsh set for his debut, while Keston Lines, Alfie North and Scott returned to the 20-man squad.

While we were a little flat, Cambridge made a lighting start to lead 10-0 after 14 minutes with their powerful winger Kwaku Asiedu playing a key role.

He scored their first try after just two minutes, shrugging off two Chinnor tacklers, before forcing his way over for an unconverted try despite the best efforts of Bourton.

The game may have been young, but Asiedu was already showing how dangerous he was in 1-on-1 situations and another blistering break from the winger hauled Cambridge up the field again. They went on to win a penalty, which they kicked to the corner and a driving maul resulted in hooker Ben Brownlie dotting down.

Chinnor needed to stop the visitors and they responded well, going on to seemingly wrestle back control of the contest as they led 15-10 after 25 minutes.

Hooker van Vuuren went over from the back of a driving maul to get us off the mark, before Bourton scored a fine try to level the match at 10-all. The Ealing loanee, playing at full-back today, superbly beat Asiedu in the air to collect Smith’s crossfield kick and dived over out wide. Bourton then slotted a penalty three minutes later as we got our noses in front.

However, Cambridge continued to look threatening and a fine break from full-back Joe Tarrant set up a 27th-minute try for centre Matt Hema who powered over under the posts. Lawrence Rayner slotted the conversion as the visitors retook the lead at 17-15.

Just a couple of minutes later and we were back in front. Mauling our way slowly towards the try-line, we then attacked on the blindside and Nick Smith fed winger Ryan Crowley for his fifth try in as many games. Bourton was unable to add the extras, but we led by three points.

There was to be another twist before half-time, though, as were were unbale to really establish any control and Cambridge secured their four-try bonus-point and the half-time lead. Once again, quick hands caused problems and they exploited the space out wide where Asiedu latched on to a Hema grubber to touch down in the corner to make it 22-20.

Cambridge had been dominant at scrum-time and another common theme in the first half had been the penalty count against Chinnor. Unfortunately, three successive infringements then put paid to a promising early attack to the second period and allowed Cambridge to gain momentum.

They went on to score their fifth try when Kieran Duffin took a quick tap penalty and there was a mis-match under the posts, with lock Kieran Frost driving over despite the best efforts of Crowley. Rayner added the extras to make it 29-20 after 49 minutes.

Both sides were guilty of errors as the match wore on, with Cambridge’s lead remaining at nine points after Bourton and Rayner traded penalties.

Cambridge were enjoying more possession and territory and we found ourselves down to 14 men for the rest of the game when lock Ben Glynn was yellow-carded following an infringement at a driving maul.

We withstood more pressure to then mount a late charge for bonus points. Scott had already shown glimpses of being a threat down the right and our gritty finish was rewarded in the last play.

The winger, who has been at the Club since he was an Under 13, dived over for our bonus-point fourth try and a losing bonus-point, before Bourton slotted the conversion from the touchline as we finished just short.

Chinnor: Bourton, Crowley, Grose, Yawayawa, Hodson, N Smith, Carter, Chilvers, van Vuuren, Hardwick, Glynn, Brockschmidt, W Ryan, Manning, Tuilagi.
Reps: Lines, Terry, North, Walsh, Scott.

Cambridge: Tarrant, Asiedu, Hema, Lloyd, Henderson, Rayner, Duffin, Morley, Brownlie, Walker, Frost, Bretag-Norris, McCloud, Adams, Maka.
Reps: Lewis, Peck, Sloot, Veenendaal, Alexis.