Stortford launch themselves into title race

Bishop's Stortford's home win over Chinnor saw the hosts move to within three points of their visitors in the National Two South table.

Chinnor have now lost two of their last three matches while Stortford have won seven of their last eight which has seen them firmly move into contention to challenge for the title in this division.

They do remain third in the table as things stand as second placed the Old Elthamians beat Barnes 49-3 to stay in the promotion spots.

The top five in this league are separated by just seven points and Canterbury, who currently lie sixth, may fancy their chances of joining the party as they secured a fifth straight win over bottom of the table Exmouth.

As we enter December, Exmouth are now  seven points from safety as things stand while fellow relegation rivals Barnstaple are out of the bottom three following a third victory in four matches.

Bishops Stortford 30-22 Chinnor

Bishops Stortford beat league leaders Chinnor to launch themselves into the National Two South title race thanks to this well executed win at Silver Leys.

Chinnor, who began the day eight points clear of Stortford, were behind 13-5 at half-time thanks to a score from Dan Elsom and the boot of Tom Banks.

Bertie Hopkin and Callum Wilson crossed after the break to add to Alex Waddingham’s first half try as a rejuvenated Chinnor went ahead in this contest.

But Jimmy Rea’s try on 55 minutes saw the pendulum swing back in Stortford’s favour as replacement Hugh Michell and Matt Tomlinson both crossed to give the hosts a 30-17 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

Chinnor showed their fighting qualities to score the final try of the afternoon as Tom Price went over to secure a bonus point try for Matt Williams’ side who now only have a three point lead at the summit of this division.

Old Elthamians 49-3 Barnes

The Old Elthamians recorded their biggest win in three seasons as four tries from Dominic Lespierre helped them to an emphatic victory over Barnes.

The home side took the lead thanks to Lespierre’s first try of the afternoon before the winger grabbed his second on 28 minutes to give the OE’s a 15-0 lead.

Tom O’Toole slotted over a penalty for Barnes just before half-time, but that was as good as it got for the South-West London side as Gavin Lach’s men were rampant after the break.

Lespierre added to his two first-half tries by scoring a brace while Charlie Self, James Golledge, Harry Ledger and Rob White also crossed the line.

Tom White converted one try and a penalty to finish with eight points, while replacement Ollie Claxon kicked four points as the OE’s continued their promotion push.

Worthing Raiders 27-29 Redruth

Jess Tompsett’s late try secured Redruth’s win in an enthralling game against Worthing Raiders at Roundstone Lane.

Alex Ducker, Lewis Vinnicombe and Nielson Webber’s tries put Redruth in control, but Worthing hit back thanks to two converted scores from Matt McLean as the away side carried in a 17-14 advantage at the break.

A brace from Dan Sargent as well as a score from Sam Hewick saw Worthing take a 27-17 lead just 13 minutes into the second-half.

Tommy Phillips barged his way over on the 58^th minute for a shell-shocked Redruth to get them back into this encounter and the visitors then mounted a series of attacks on the Worthing line.

A tense final five minutes entailed, but eventually Redruth found a way through as Tompsett smashed his way over to level things up, before Angus Taylor converted to seal the win for The Reds.

Taunton Titans 38-27 Henley Hawks

Taunton Titans came from behind in the final 10 minutes to snatch a thrilling victory over struggling Henley Hawks who remain in the relegation zone.

The Hawks, who dropped to 15^th in the table following this defeat, trailed to Lewis Webb’s score and two penalties from Gary Kingdom.

The Titans then extended their lead as Dan Frost crossed before the Hawks hit back through a converted try by George Jackson.

Both sides then exchanged tries once again as Frost dotted down for his second before Barnaby Abdale-Weir went over for Henley as Taunton carried a 23-17 lead into the break.

Henley began the second period much sharper and were rewarded for their endeavour as Marcus Lowe forced his way over to give the away side the lead for the first time in the match.

Momentum was certainly with the Hawks and things got better for the visitors when Frost was sin-binned for Taunton and Henley nudged over the resulting penalty to make to 27-23.

However, Taunton hit back and all Henley’s hard work was undone as Alec Chase scored a converted try to put the Titans three points ahead. The wind had now been taken out of the Henley sails and four minutes from time Frost dived over for his hat-trick before Kingdom sealed the win from the tee late on.

Canterbury 48-38 Exmouth

Canterbury staged a rousing comeback for a bonus-point victory over Exmouth to extend their winning streak to five matches.

The City Men flew out of the blocks as Guy Hilton’s try after two minutes gave them the perfect start, but Exmouth hit back as teenager Charlie Gibbings crossed.

A Dan Smart try and five points from the boot of Tom Best edged Canterbury ahead soon after, but Exmouth responded yet again as they led by 11 points at half-time thanks to a second score from Gibbings as well as tries by Harvey Ridgeway and Issac Dalton.

Martyn Beaumont got the ball rolling for the second period as Canterbury opened the scoring, but Exmouth continued to match the home side try for try.

Martin Wathes and Hilton exchanged scores before Gibbings sealed his hat-trick to put Jon Hill’s side in a commanding position with a second victory of the season looking like a real possibility.

However, Canterbury gathered themselves to turn around this game as JJ Murray, Smart and Cameron Townley snatched the win for the home side who continued their excellent recent run.

Clifton 25-19 Redingensians

Fly-half Bradley Barnes kicked 10 points as Clifton beat the Redingensians to end a run of two straight defeats.

Barnes and Jacob Atkins exchanged early penalties before the latter added a second penalty, and then converted Sean McDonnell-Roberts’ try to put the away side in front at the break.

Barnes struck back with a penalty after the interval before Alfie To’ola dotted down for Clifton’s first-try of the afternoon, which Barnes converted to tie the game up.

Atkins slotted over two more penalties to put the Rams back in front, but that was as good as it got for the visitors as Ian Clark and Dan Wells crossed in the final 15 minutes of the game to seal the win for Clifton.

Cinderford 29-26 Bury St Edmunds

Second-half tries from Liam Hemming, James Tidswell and Adam Balding saw Cinderford come from behind to defeat Bury St Edmunds.

Bury led 19-7 at the break following tries from Chris Snelling, Pierre Peres and Sean Stapleton, with a Penalty Try keeping Cinderford in touch at the interval.

Hemming then reduced the lead for the home side before scores from Tidswell and Balding as well as a penalty from James Moffat made it 29-19.

There was still time for Bury to score again as Chris Lord crossed the whitewash to set-up a tense finish, but Cinderford held on to extend their unbeaten run to four matches.

Barnstaple 27-10 London Irish Wild Geese

Barnstaple stretched their unbeaten streak to four games as they beat London Irish Wild Geese to move out of the relegation zone in National Two South.

Fly-half Jordan Petherbridge’s clever work saw him break from the back of a maul for Barnstaple’s opening try of the afternoon after Gavin Dunne had given Wild Geese the lead from the tee.

Petherbridge landed a penalty and then a conversion as Ben Hilton crashed over for Barum’s second try give them a 17-3 lead at half-time.

Rob Dugard scored the first try of the second period for the hosts to earn Barnstaple a 19-point lead before Petherbridge grabbed his second of the day.

The fly-half was then sin-binned which allowed Irish to get back into this contest and they did just that as Dan Grant-Adamson ran in from 25 metres.

Any glimmers of hope the away side may have had disappeared 10 minutes from the end as George Morris was sent-off for fighting which meant Barnstaple were able to see out another victory as Steve Perry’s side ended a very successful November with another triumph.