CHINNOR were made to pay for their high penalty count and struggles in the scrum as Birmingham Moseley left Kingsey Road with a last-gasp bonus-point victory.

The visitors’ second penalty try of the day helped them complete their comeback, having trailed 27-14 after 45 minutes.

It was the second week in a row that Chinnor had been dominated in the scrum, but it came back to bite them this time in a fixture which included four yellow cards and a red.

Despite the obvious struggles, the home side still looked to have done just enough with tries from Elliot Chilvers, Willie Ryan, Jason Worrall and Kieran Goss putting them 13 points ahead.

However, we turned down a couple of opportunities to add to our tally from the tee in favour of more tries and we were ultimately punished in the scrum.

Such is the unpredictability of National League 1 that the result still leaves Chinnor, who picked up two bonus points, sixth in the table and 11 points behind second-placed Caldy.

They still have their two games in hand, but know improvements are essential if they are to make a serious challenge towards the top of the table.

Director of Rugby, Richard Thorpe made only one change to the side which started the victory over Cinderford last week, with Chilvers replacing Keston Lines at loosehead prop.

On the bench, tighthead Alex Hunt was set for his First XV debut after recovering from a long-term injury, while lock Ben Glynn returned to the matchday squad.

Chinnor, buoyed by last week’s 31-24 victory at Cinderford, made a bright start, dominating territory and possession.

Inside centre James Bourton missed a ninth-minute penalty in front of the posts from around 40m, but we soon took the lead.

Full-back Nick Smith’s fine nudge hauled Chinnor up to the 22 and we subsequently drove our way to the try-line where Chilvers plunged over. Bourton added the extras to make it 7-0.

The hosts had dictated everything about the opening stages, but loose play did allow the visitors to get on the scoreboard on 21 minutes. Smith’s attempted chip kick fell into Mosley hands and the ball was recycled quickly out to the right. Andy Bulumakau sped down his wing, offloading to full-back Tom Benjamin who gave Elliot Bale a simple conversion.

We were not level for long, though, as we impressively hit back with two tries in the space of three minutes.

Fly-half Caolan Ryan led the way as we put the pressure back on and, following a fine break from Chilvers, Ben Manning offloaded to fellow back-rower Willie Ryan to plunge over for an unconverted try.

By the 27th minute we extended our lead to 12 points and Ryan was instrumental again as he kicked in behind Moseley. Outside centre Worrall gambled and the ball bounced nicely for him to collect and dive over for his second try of the season. Bourton converted in front of the posts to make it 19-7.

The visitors went on to gain a bit of momentum and our frailties at scrum-time were exposed. Two successive penalties led to a yellow card for hooker Cameron Terry and referee Andy Wigley had no choice but to award a penalty try at the next scrum.

Our lead was now five points, but a James Bourton penalty extended our advantage to 22-14 at half-time.

We started the second half positively, with a fine break down the left from Worrall nearly paying off as Conor Brockschmidt ultimately knocked on a pass from Manning.

Moseley had been a little loose in possession, but nearly scored their third try of the game on the counter. They shifted the ball quickly out to the left and Mason Tonks sent Aquile Smith racing over half way and past the last man, but he had received a forward pass.

It was a warning shot, but the visitors were punished for losing the ball cheaply just inside our half on 44 minutes. Scrum-half Jack Walsh sent a kick in behind and Goss – reminiscent of the try he scored against Cinderford the week before – hurtled after it, overtaking two players to collect and dive over for his fifth try of the season. Bourton was unable to convert, but we now led by 27 points to 14.

With the four-try bonus point secured and Terry returning from his sin-bin, it was looking good for Chinnor, but Moseley knew where we were vulnerable.

Successive penalties allowed them to move up the pitch and our scrummaging came under the spotlight once more.

Two scrum penalties led to Hunt – just 11 minutes into his debut after replacing Soane Tonga’uiha at the break – being yellow-carded, before Walsh followed him moments later for a deliberate knock-on.

We managed to get out of that particular situation without our lead being eaten in to, while Moseley also had a man sent to the sin-bin with Smith shown yellow.

From that offence, Chinnor kicked to the corner instead of the posts and it very nearly paid off as our pack drove the visitors back and seemingly over the line for our fifth score, but no try was given. Another penalty was then awarded in a similar place on the other side of the pitch on 62 minutes, but we again turned down the points and the lineout was overthrown.

In hindsight, those six points would have been useful and it perhaps gave Moseley hope that there was still life in the game.

Hunt and Walsh returned to the field, but the visitors reduced the deficit to eight points on 69 minutes when centre Isaac McNulty finished off a fine sweeping move.

Unfortunately, the penalty count continued to rise against us, leading to an uncomfortable final ten minutes.

Ollie Allsopp’s 77th-minute penalty saw Moseley close to within five points, perhaps knowing that they would have one more shot with momentum in their favour – and they certainly did.

Penalised at a lineout, we were then called up at the resulting scrum and Terry was shown his second yellow card which resulted in a red.

With time over, it all hinged on the scrum and we were penalised again, leading to a penalty try being awarded and celebrations from the Moseley players as the full-time whistle was blown.

Chinnor: N Smith, Goss, Worrall, Bourton, Hodson, C Ryan, Walsh, Chilvers, Terry, Tonga’uiha, Curry, Brockschmidt, W Ryan, Manning, Tuilagi.
Reps: O’Neil, Veness, A Hunt, Glynn, Yawayawa.

Birmingham Moseley: Benjamin, Tonks, Allsopp, I McNulty, Bulumakau, Bale, Pointon, Foreman, S McNulty, Langley, Kiff, Butler, Hutchinson, Munro, Ward.
Reps: Tideswell, Genade, Barnes, Smith, Combes.