CHINNOR Falcons bowed out of the Oxfordshire Cup as Oxford Quins edged a tight contest at Kingsey Road.

Very little separated the sides in the first-round contest, but the visitors were more clinical, scoring four tries to claim victory.

We arguably enjoyed more possession and territory, but just lacked a cutting edge while Quins defended the maul well throughout.

There were positives for Chinnor to take out of the game. We fielded a side which included players across our 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th XVs, with Andy Berry producing a dominant performance at No 8, while centre Will Blakemore and hooker Will Cave had strong games.

A Werner Nell penalty put us into an eighth-minute lead as we dominated the opening exchanges.

We did have to be on high alert to deny Quins when full-back Paul Armengaud chased after his own grubber which settled dangerously close to the try-line, but our opposite number Digo Pina swept up well.

After Berry and Cave carried strongly, a fine kick from Nell took us inside their 22. The visitors claimed the lineout and box kicked clear, but we ran the ball back. Spreading wide to the left, we created an overload and wing Russ Pearce fed Pina, who still had work to do and the full-back finished superbly in the corner for an unconverted try.

However, Quins responded almost immediately as four minutes later they mauled to within a couple of metres from the 22, and centre Andrew Jarvis peeled off to touch down. Armengaud added the extras as our lead was cut to 8-7.

For the next ten minutes we took control, with Blakemore making a couple of line breaks through the centre of the field, while lock Taylor Randall stopped Armengaud well and truly in his tracks as the full-back attempted to run his way into our half.

Two Nell penalties extended our lead to seven points, and with Quins centre Archie van Dijk in the sin bin there was hope of adding to our tally before the break.

However, the visitors finished the half the stronger and although we initially defended a 38th-minute driving lineout well, a ruck penalty gave them another bite and a quick tap-and-go led to fly-half Toby Haines going over. Armengaud converted to level the tie at 14-all.

There was still time left on the clock in the first period and we defended well to keep Quins out of our half, but we lost a player to the bin just before the break when Berry was yellow-carded for offside.

The first ten minutes of the second half was pretty even, with a couple more line breaks from Blakemore and the boot of Nell pushing the visitors back, but they continued to defend the set piece well.

In fact, after repelling a maul deep in their half, they launched a counter which would lead to their third try on 51 minutes. Running it 10m from their own try-line, they then chased their own kick down the pitch and although we were first to the ball our attempted clearance was charged down. With the ball rolling over our try-line it was down to a foot race and Quins right wing Matt Marenghi was there first to score. Armengaud added the extras as we now trailed 14-21.

A tweak to our back line saw James Lloyd moved to scrum-half, Greg Goodfellow to 10 and Werner Nell to 12 and we seemed to be controlling proceedings.

Another Nell penalty reduced their lead, before we were gifted the chance to launch an immediate attack from the restart as the kick-off did not go 10m. We chose to play and Cave charged forward, before loosehead prop Charlie Brabham and Lloyd combined, only for a handling error to stop us in our tracks.

Unfortunately, that was a theme for the evening while the big hits continued to go in, with Sam Angell’s first involvement off the bench causing a turnover from what can only be described as a perfectly-timed and forceful tackle.

Despite the ball being in Chinnor hands for the most part, Quins did add to their tally, further extending their lead to 11 points with eight minutes to play. Again, they ran it out of their own half and Marenghi stormed down his wing. They switched it left on entry to the 22 and Armengaud ran a fine line to dot down – converting his own try to make it 28-17.

We continued to dig in as we searched for a late comeback. Blakemore and tighthead Bradley Harewood carried well, before Lloyd’s show-and-go saw us edge our way up the pitch. But it was energy-sapping stuff and ultimately, we knocked on.

There was plenty of spirit on show and we continued to hammer on the door. Berry and Randall drove us up to the 22 and with advantage being played, Goodfellow sent a fine cross-field kick to the Club Shop corner. It looked to be a certain try, but we knocked on when attempting to gather out wide. We went back for the penalty and from there we scored as a tap-and-go led to Lloyd feeding captain Will Cadden to drive over from close range. Nell quickly added the extras as we were now within four points.

With the scoreboard showing time was up, we were on the referee’s watch and the whistle blew not long after the restart.

Not the result we wanted, but a great contest nonetheless.

Chinnor Falcons: Pina, Pearce, Leach, Blakemore, Lloyd, Nell, Goodfellow, Brabham, Cave, Harewood, Lavin, Randall, James, Cadden, Berry.
Reps: Hanson, Vialls, Inman, Angell, Prosser.

Oxford Quins: Armengaud, Marenghi, Jarvis, van Dijk, Henderson, Haines, Pigott, Smith, Graddon, Hopkins, Broadbent, Esteban, Voegtli, Fitzpatrick, Graham.
Reps: Delange, Pritchard, Waldock, Bull, Edmondson.