Chinnor produced a blistering second half display to come from behind and take five points. On a beautiful warm evening in front of an increasingly febrile crowd Grant Hughes and Luke Carter both notched a brace of tries in a dazzling second stanza when having trailed 6-17 they stormed into a 41-17 lead. Playing with pace and skill based on a powerful set piece foundation and a barnstorming performance from the surging Morgan Passman Chinnor’s running game was too hot to handle.

A very contented Nick Easter said “Very pleased for the boys who produced the best half of Rugby of our season. We trained really well after our poor display at Doncaster and it’s great to see all the effort and commitment bear fruit. We were unlucky to go in at half time behind as I thought we had played well and had put Nottingham under extreme pressure. We didn’t let our heads go down and produced a scintillating 40 minutes.”

It was the Archers who struck first after a powerful driving maul saw Harry Clayton break off and round the defence to dot down after 11 minutes. Chinnor responded well and looked dangerous especially in midfield where Tom Watson and Passman were a constant threat. However, some excellent Nottingham defence meant Chinnor eventually had to settle for a Nathan Chamberlain penalty to open their account. Chamberlain was to finish with a personal haul of 21 points after an immaculate day off the tee and a consummate second half performance which included finishing off another Passman bust and orchestrating his backline beautifully.

Chinnor continued to dominate territory and possession, and their powerful scrum was bringing rewards from numerous penalties. Nottingham continued to show resilience in defence and try as they might the home team could not cross the line and had to settle for another Chamberlain penalty in the 40th minute to take the lead for the first time and seemingly enter half time with their noses in front. However, there was time for a restart and a hanging Matthew Arden kick was fumbled by Chamberlain and Archer’s skipper David Williams on his 150th appearance was Jonny on the spot as he scooped up the loose ball and dived in under the posts. This gave Nottingham a 6-12 lead at halftime.

The visitors increased their lead when after a series of drives Chinnor’s defence was sucked in and the dangerous Ryan Olowofela could stroll over the line after evading a tackle, 6-17.

This was the cue for Chinnor to light the touchpaper as they scored an incredible 5 converted tries in 25-minute purple patch. On 52 minutes Carter scored his first as he spotted a gap in the defence from a driving maul and sniped round the corner, 13-17. Hughes then scored his first as he bumped off several would-be tacklers after another Passman bust and Chinnor regained the lead, 20-17 after 56 minutes. The tries continued to flow as Chinnor played with real tempo and precision as Carter ran his trademark supporting line to get on the end of a Willie Ryan break. Passman was now proving almost unstoppable as another break was finished off superbly by the prolific Chamberlain.

It was the elusive Hughes who was to finish off the try fest as he scooted home after superb work from Tom Watson and Nick Smith, 41-17.

Nottingham finished off the scoring when a powerful drive was finished off by Tom Manz. It was the visitors who were pressing on Chinnor’s line in the final minute when a superb Dan Cooke line out steal put an end to the pulsating proceedings.

Chinnor- Smith 7 (Bouton 69,7), Hughes 8, Passman 9 (Rokodrava 75), Watson 7, Goss 7, Chamberlain 8, Carter 9, Hall 7, Clamentson 7 (Rafferty 65,7), Dugmore 8, Ryan 8 (Cooke 71,7), Shaw 7, Hardwick 8 (Doak 74, 7), Moore 7 (Walker 52 8) , Onasanya 7 (Lines 52 7)
Tries – Carter x2 (52, 68) Hughes x2 (56, 61) Chamberlain (71)
Cons- Chamberlain x5
Pens- Chamberlain x2
Nottingham- Olowofela 8, Williams © 8, Stapley 6 (Threlfall 62,6), Christian Goss 7(Parks 58.6), Graham 6, Arden 7, Yarnell 6 (Goodwin 62, 6)_, Cherry 7, Wright 6 (Dickinson 62, 6), Carnduff 7, Manz 7, Thomas 7 (Green 70, 6), Loman 6 (Sio 58, 6), Clayton 7 (Richardson 65, 6), Van der Flier 6( Harris 55, 6)
Tries – Clayton (12), Williams (40), Olowofela (44), Manz (74)
Cons- Arden

Chinnor Nottingham
Scrums -8/0 - 3/4
Lineouts- 7/3 - 10/5
Penalties conceded- 8 - 9
Yellow cards- 1 - 1
Tries- 5 - 4
Attendance -1875
Referee- Joe James
Man of Match- Morgan Passman
Photo- David Howlett
Report- John Vaughan

Next home match is London Scottish “Family Fun Day” Saturday 17th May