Title race gathers pace in National Two South

Once again in National Two South this weekend there was nothing to separate Chinnor and the Old Elthamians with attention now turning to their showdown this coming Saturday.

League leaders Chinnor produced an excellent display away at Cinderford to stay top while second-placed the Old Elthamians yet again saw off the potential banana skin of a promotion challenger as they beat Redruth.

Both sides will now be focused on Round 10 with the top two going head-to-head this weekend so something has got to give when the sides meet in Oxfordshire five days from now.

Bishops Stortford will certainly have one eye on that result as they will be ready to capitalise on any mistakes made by either team as they sit third in the table following an impressive win over Taunton Titans.

Elsewhere in National Two South, Barnes picked up a much needed win in a thrilling contest against Exmouth while Barnstaple stay bottom of the table despite a narrow victory over Worthing Raiders.

Cinderford 9-26 Chinnor

Chinnor made it nine wins on the bounce by beating Cinderford to maintain their lead at the top of the National Two South table.

Number Eight Tom Burns’ superb power saw him barge his way over for the opening try on 23 minutes in this clash. James Townsend crashed over to double Chinnor’s advantage just before half-time to leave them 14-3 ahead.

James Moffat capitalised on a sloppy start to the second half by the visitors as he slotted over his second penalty of the afternoon for Cinderford.

However, Bertie Hopkin scored near the posts to earn Chinnor a 12-point lead but CJ Osazuma was then yellow-carded for the away side leading to increased Cinderford pressure.

Moffat landed his third penalty of the afternoon and Chinnor had to dig deep in defence to prevent the hosts from turning this game around and the league leaders did just that.

With five minutes to go, Greg Goodfellow touched down in the corner for Chinnor to secure them another bonus-point win and maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.

Old Elthamians 43-25 Redruth

A superb first-half performance helped the Old Elthamians to victory over Redruth as the home side made it nine straight wins for the season.

Dominic Lespierre’s brace, a try from Ben Hough and nine points from the boot of Tom White gave the OE’s an 18-point lead at the break with two Brett Rule penalties making up Redruth’s points.

Mike Denbee and Alex Brown went over shortly after the interval to secure a bonus-point for the home side.

Tries by Adam Wright and Alex Ducker gave Redruth something to smile about but it was short lived as Ian Kench scored his first try for the OE’s on 74 minutes.

The visitors did have the final say as Tommy Phillips went over from close range, but this was another test which the Old Elthamians have passed with flying colours.

Bishops Stortford 50-21 Taunton Titans

Bishop's Stortford continued their superb run of form as they trashed Taunton Titans 50-21 at Silver Leys.

Stortford were out of sight by the break thanks to scores from man of the match Dan Elsom, George Cullen, Johnny Neville, Nick Hankin and Declan Caulfield as they went into half-time with a 33-0 lead.

The home side continued their blistering rugby after the interval as Steve Ball crossed for try number six before Taunton finally got on the board for the afternoon as Conor Harbison touched down on his debut for the away side.

However, it wasn’t long before Mark McCraith and Ryan Hutler both dotted down for Stortford as Andy Long’s men racked up a half century of points.

Taunton then ended the final 10 minutes of this contest strongly as Aron Struminski and Lewis Pratten both scored in the corner, but the damage had been done in the first period by Stortford who have now won their last four.

Bury St Edmunds 17-37 Redingensians

The Redingensians extended their unbeaten run to four matches thanks to this away win in National Two South against Bury St Edmumds.

The Rams led 24-12 at the break after an action packed first-half with tries coming from Robbie Stapley, Ben Henderson and Connor Corrigan, while Bury responded via scores by Sam Sterling and Chris Snelling.

Michael Chandler added to his nine point tally, which he had accumulated in the first 40, shortly after the break as he slotted his second penalty of the afternoon before Bury hit back as Sterling latched onto a kick to dot down again.

Bury then suffered a setback on the hour as on-loan Ben Turner was yellow-carded and Chandler pinged over another three points for the Rams. The Redingensians were then able to see out this game and it was wrapped up when Craig Nightingale went over late on.

Clifton 27-15 London Irish Wild Geese

Clifton made it three wins on the spin as they produced an excellent performance to beat the London Irish Wild Geese.

The Lavender and Blacks went ahead through Sam Harrison and Jack Watter before the Wild Geese hit back with a Mike Bunn try. However, the highly rated Mike Newey added a penalty before half-time for the hosts to give them a 15-5 lead.

The home side began the second-half with purpose as Dan Wells and Mike Loxton both powered over to bring up the bonus point Clifton.

The Wild Geese them dominated the final quarter as Matt Killeen and George Drye dotted down, but it wasn’t enough as Darren Lloyd’s men continue their momentum.

Canterbury 51-17 Henley Hawks

Canterbury returned to winning ways with a seven-try demolition of Henley Hawks in National Two South at The Marine Travel Ground.

Guy Hilton ran in a superb hat-trick as the City Men ended a run of three straight defeats in style on their own turf.

Dan Smart capped a fine performance with a brace of tries while Aiden Moss and Ollie Best also crossed for Canterbury with Best accumulating 21 points for his side overall.

Henley Hawks could not live with Canterbury’s power and could only manage tries from Cameron Ives and David Hyde (2).

Barnstaple 9-7 Worthing Raiders

Barnstaple may be at the foot of the National Two South table, but Jordan Petherbridge’s three penalties helped secure their second win of the season against Worthing Raiders.

Barum reacted well to their defeat in the Devon derby at Exmouth last week and it was exactly the response Steve Parry would’ve wanted from his side.

Despite losing Ben Hilton to the sin bin, the hosts went into half-time with a 6-0 lead thanks to two kicks by Petherbridge who played the majority of the first 40 at scum-half.

Petherbridge struck the post with a penalty just before half-time, but it was Worthing who began the second-half on the front foot.

The Raiders were rewarded when Dan Sargent crossed to give them the lead on 52 minutes with the ever reliable Matt McLean adding the extras.

Barnstaple regained the lead just after the hour through Petherbridge again and the home side were then able to manage the final quarter of this contest to seal their second win at this level.

Barnes 33-28 Exmouth

Barnes picked up just their second win of the season thanks to this hard-earned bonus-point victory over Exmouth in South-West London.

A brace from fly-half Tom O’Toole as well as scores from Alex Crane and Harry Hudson helped Barnes lead 26-11 at half-time, Harvey Ridgeway replying for the visitors.

A further score from Hudson extended Barnes’ lead to 33-11 before Exmouth mounted a comeback which secured them two bonus-points.

Jack Downie scored either side of George Meadows’ try to reduce to deficit to five points with still 15 minutes remaining. Exmouth then hammered at the Barnes defence, but the hosts held firm to secure a much needed victory to head into November.