Chinnor and Old Elthamians collect further wins

Chinnor and the Old Elthamians are refusing to budge at the top of National Two South with both sides continuing to dominate this division.

The two teams made it eight wins from eight on the weekend with Chinnor easing past Bury St Edmunds while the OE’s came away from Henley Hawks with an excellent result.

Away from the battle at the top, Clifton picked up a surprise win over Taunton Titans who have now lost their last two homes games while the London Irish Wild Geese secured their third win of the season with victory over Canterbury.

Wild Geese were promoted alongside Exmouth and Barnstaple and both of those sides met this weekend. It was Exmouth who prevailed as they clinched their first victory of the season in the Devon derby.

Chinnor 45-14 Bury St Edmunds

Chinnor ran in six tries as they made it eight straight wins to stay top of National Two South thanks to this victory over Bury St Edmunds.

Lock Ross Parkins’ early try, followed by a score from CJ Ozauwa and seven points from the boot of Sam Angell gave Chinnor a 17-0 lead.

That’s how it stayed until half-time and after the break, Chinnor continued to but their foot down.

The Black and Whites ran in four second-half tries from Nathan Hannay, Tom Burns, Kieran Goss and Bevon Armtiage while Bury mustered up scores from Shaq Meyers and Ben Enoka.

Henley Hawks 20-30 Old Elthamians

The Old Elthamians maintained their unbeaten start to the season as they made it eight wins from eight after this hard-fought victory against battling Henley.

James Gollegde’s excellent opening try for the away side was cancelled out by a quick thinking George Jackson who crossed for the hosts.

The OE’s scored two more tries in the first period via Lewis Brown and Gollegde again before Tom White and his opposite number Jackson exchanged penalties which resulted in the visitors leading 20-13 at the break.

Henley were level from the restart as they were awarded a Penalty Try which Jackson converted, but the OE’s showed just why they are challenging for a top spot this season as Dominic Lespierre replied with a try to once again give the visitors the lead.

White converted and then added a penalty to complete the scoring and keep the OE’s a point behind league leaders Chinnor ahead of their top of the table clash in two weeks’ time.

Redruth 54-11 Cinderford

An Alex Ducker hat-trick helped Redruth move up to third in National Two South as they comprehensively beat Cinderford at the Recreation Ground.

The Reds dominated this clash, with first-half touchdowns from Jack Oulton and Shaun Buzza giving them a 15-6 lead at the break.

Redruth then went through the gears in the second period as Chris Fuca and Ashley Lawton went over before Ducker got his first of the afternoon.

Cinderford’s day went from bad to worse when No.8 Aaron Ryan was yellow-carded and in his absence, the home side scored a further three tries through Matt Gidlow, Ducker again and replacement scrum-half Sam Stevens.

Ducker then completed his hat-trick four minutes from the end to put the icing on the cake for Redruth before Luke McMahon scored a consolation for Cinderford right at the death.

Worthing Raiders 30-36 Bishops Stortford

Will Simmonds scored a hat-trick of tries to help Bishops Stortford inflict a first home defeat of the season on Worthing Raiders.

Two tries from Simmonds and a score from George Cullen helped the visitors lead 17-8 at half-time at Rugby Park, with Alex Nielsen going over for Worthing in the first period for his 100^th National League try for the club.

Nielsen didn’t have to wait long for try 101 as he dotted down three minutes after the interval before McLean added the conversion and a penalty to give Worthing an 18-17 lead on the hour.

But Simmonds’ third and a penalty from Tom Banks put Stortford back in front.

Worthing were refusing to lie down as Kiba Richards forced his way over with 10 minutes left to leave the Raiders trailing by just five points.

However, Banks slotted over two quick penalties to give Stortford some breathing space. Worthing continued to battle as Rob Sargent crashed over with two minutes remaining, but Andy Long’s men were able to hold out for their third win on the bounce.

Taunton Titans 30-32 Clifton

Clifton came from behind to stun Taunton Titans at Hyde Park as they fell to their second home defeat in a row.

The game was level on 33 minutes as Gary Kingdom and Bradley Barnes exchanged blows from the tee while Richard Bright and Alfie Tooala went over for their respective teams.

However, Dan Frost gave Taunton an 18-11 half-time lead as he touched down following an interception.

The scores were tied yet again five minutes into the second-half as Dan Wells darted over for Clifton, but Taunton then took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Two driving maul tries from Oli Massy-Birch and Sean Lonsdale gave them a 30-18 lead on 57 minutes before Clifton mounted an excellent comeback.

Clifton capitalised on some sloppy play from the hosts to earn a route back into this compelling contest and Finlay Sharp and Mitchell Spencer both crossed for converted tries to give Clifton the lead with 10 minutes remaining.

The Titans tried to fashion one more clear-cut chance, but failed to do so as Clifton held on for a superb victory while Taunton fell further behind in the promotion race.

Redingensians 33-12 Barnes

The Redingensians moved into the top half of National Two South after a convincing win over Barnes at Old Bath Road.

The home side were actually 12-10 behind at the interval as Barnes’ Ed Alterac and Tom O’Toole both scored tries while the Rams responded through a Conor Corrigan score and five points from the boot of Spike Chandler.

That was as good as it got for the away side though as three more penalties from Chandler edged the Redingensians in front before Corrigan – on his first appearance of the season for the Rams – scored his and the hosts’ second try of the afternoon.

Chandler was on point once again with the boot to convert before Great Britain Students 7s player Jak Rossiter wrapped up the win for the home side with a try a minute from the end.

London Irish Wild Geese 34-29 Canterbury

George Owen scored four tries to help the London Irish Wild Geese secure a bonus-win over Canterbury at Hazlewood.

The home side a slender 17-16 half-time lead as winger Owen completed his hat-trick while Oli Best kicked three goals for Canterbury, one of which was the conversion following Harry Sayers’ try.

A try from Aiden Moss gave Canterbury the lead just after the break, but Wild Geese hit back swiftly as an in-form Seb Rodwell ghosted over to reduce the deficit to one point.

Best continued to be a major plus point for the City Men as he landed two quick-fire penalties before Wild Geese came to the fore.

Owen ran in his fourth try of the afternoon and two minutes later, Tyler Bush got in on the act as the hosts now led 34-29. Canterbury then battered the Wild Geese defence in the final 10 minutes of this encounter, but newly-promoted side held on for their third win of the season.

Exmouth 38-20 Barnstaple

Exmouth secured their first win of the season as they saw off neighbours Barnstaple at the Imperial Recreation Ground.

Before this game, Exmouth were without a win to their name since promotion from National Three South West last season while Barnstaple – who were promoted alongside Exmouth -  were searching for their second victory of the term.

Winger Harvey Ridgeway opened the scoring for the afternoon as Exmouth crossed first but they were behind 13-10 at the interval.

Despite George Meadows adding five points from the tee, two penalties from Jordan Petheridge and a converted try on the stoke of half-time scored by Linford Brock gave Barnstaple the narrow advantage.

Meadows tied the game up with his second penalty of the day early in the second half before playing a hand in Henry Goldson’s try who gave Exmouth the lead.

But Barum were back level in this see-saw contest when Ben Hilton sniped his way over from the back of a ruck just before the hour.

However, Barnstaple failed to capitalise on that try as Exmouth controlled the last quarter of this encounter despite being down to 14 men on occasions in the second period.

Issac Dalton gave Exmouth the lead on 61 minutes before Mark Wathes capitalised on a Barnstaple mistake to cross for the bonus-point try four minutes later which ultimately sealed the win for Jon Hill’s side.