Chinnor’s run comes to an end

Following 10 wins in a row, Chinnor’s unbeaten start in National Two South was ended on Saturday as they were beaten by Canterbury.

Matt Williams’ men suffered their first defeat of the season, but it does still leave them top of the division and they now have a lead of five points at the summit.

The team directly behind them in the table has changed though. For so long it was the Old Elthamians who were the closest challengers to Chinnor, but a defeat for them and a sixth straight victory for Bishops Storford now means Andy Long’s side are into the top two.

Elsewhere, Taunton’s promotion ambitions were damaged once again in Round 11 as they suffered a shock defeat to Barnstaple while Cinderford, Redruth and Worthing Raiders found that winning touch once again.

Canterbury 16-12 Chinnor

Chinnor’s 100 per cent start to the season came to an end on Saturday as Canterbury secured their third win on the spin in Kent.

The league leaders led this encounter 12-7 with Bertie Hopkin and Tom Burns crossing while Martyn Beaumont dived over out wide in the latter stages of the first-half to bring the hosts right back into the contest.

And Canterbury didn’t look back after that. In the second period, the hosts dealt well with Chinnor’s attacking plays and the decisive period in this game came in the final 20 minutes.

Burns was yellow carded for the visitors and Tom Best knocked over a penalty to reduce Chinnor’s lead to just two points. A minute later, the fly-half put the City Men in front as he coolly slotted over a drop goal.

Chinnor then produced waves and waves of attack on the Canterbury defence, but yet again the home side were watertight before Best closed out the victory with another penalty two minutes from time.

Bishops Stortford 27-17 Henley Hawks

Bishops Stortford are now up to second in National Two South as they clinched their sixth win in a row thanks to this hard-fought victory over Henley Hawks.

Ryan Hutler scored an early try for Stortford but they were behind at the break as a try from a rolling maul and a score from Tom Hall gave Henley a 12-10 lead.

Henley extended their advantage on 50 minutes thanks to their third try of the afternoon scored by Tom Parton.

After a slow start to the second period, Stortford responded as Seb Brownhill crossed the whitewash to make it 17-15 and it wasn’t long before the hosts were back in front.

10 minutes from the end, a try from Declan Caufield gave Stortford the lead and they went on to secure a crucial bonus point as the home side dotted down from close range to complete the win.

Old Elthamians 5-22 Redingensians

The Redingensians extended their unbeaten run to six matches as they ended the Old Elthamians’ perfect home record at College Meadows.

The Rams, who have now not lost since the beginning of October, led 16-5 at the break thanks to a Sam Guttridge try and 11 points from the boot of Jacob Atkins.

The Old Elthamians could only muster up a score from full-back Chris Surman just before half-time and that is as good as it got for the home side all afternoon.

The OE’s did camp themselves in the Redingensians 22 for the majority of the second period, but the final blow was delivered by the away side six minutes from time. They were rewarded for their disciplined defending when Atkins landed another two penalties to seal their fifth straight win.

Clifton 20-28 Redruth

Redruth returned to winning ways following this hard-fought victory over a Clifton side that saw their four game unbeaten streak come to an end.

The visitors led 14-8 at the break through tries from Alex Ducker and Matt Gidlow, only after Fin Sharpe had put Clifton ahead with the opening score of the afternoon.

An early second-half try for Ducker gave The Reds a 13 point lead, but Clifton were right back in this contest just after the hour as Luke Watters went over in the corner and the conversion from Barnes made it 21-15.

Redruth were trying to see the game out, but Watters brought Clifton to within one of their hosts 10 minutes from the end as he crossed once more to set-up a grandstand finale.

Barnes then struck a penalty just wide of the posts for Clifton which proved costly as Redruth finally gained some territory which resulted in Shaun Buzza going over to seal the win for the away side.

Barnstaple 22-19 Taunton Titans

Jordan Petherbridge’s late penalty on his 50th first-team appearance saw Barnstaple edge past Taunton Titans in a tight encounter at Pottingham Road.

Tries from Taunton’s Aron Struminski and Richard Bright were matched by Linford Brock and Winston James in a tight first-half which ended level at 12-12.

Taunton then regained the lead seven minutes into the second period as Nick Mason crossed, but once again they were unable to hold their advantage.

Petherbridge was on hand to cross the whitewash for Barum as he latched on to his own high kick and he converted the try to tie the game up once more.

And it was the ever dependable Petehrbridge who kept his composure in the dying embers of this contest to clinch a superb victory for the newly-promoted side who are now unbeaten in three matches.

Bury St Edmunds 12-10 Barnes

A late Scott Lyle penalty sealed a dramatic win for Bury St Edmunds over Barnes at the Green King IPA Harberden.

Despite Bury enjoying the better of a disjoined first-half, it was Barnes that led at the break through Rupert Crossland’s try.

Lyle slotted over his first penalty of the afternoon shortly after the interval to get Bury’s first points on the board and the full-back added two more kicks from the tee to give his side the lead on 66 minutes.

But their hard work was undone as the hosts found themselves behind once again when Tom O’Toole struck over a penalty.

Bury were now running out of time and were looking frantic with the ball in hand. They earned a penalty which Lyle didn’t convert, but the opportunity arose once again right at the death and this time he made no mistake as he snatched the win for the home side.

Worthing Raiders 26-22 London Irish Wild Geese

Worthing Raiders ended a run of four straight defeats as they battled to a home victory against London Irish Wild Geese.

Raiders’ tries came from Joe Burns and James Arthur in the first half before Liam Perkins dotted down at the start of the second period, with Matt McLean on kicking duties.

Worthing had built up a 23-5 lead but saw their advantage reduced to just a point as George Owen, Daniel Grant-Adamson and Seb Rodwell all crossed for the Wild Geese who had created very little up until that point.

The visitors were in the ascendency and may well have fancied their chances of snatching a win when Liam Perkins was sin-binned for Worthing 14 minutes from the end.

However during his absence, Worthing held firm and in the final minutes of this contest McLean sealed the win with another penalty.

Cinderford 27-12 Exmouth

A strong second half display was enough for Cinderford to record their first win in four matches after a physical encounter with Exmouth at Dockham Road.

Scores from Chris Rovey and Liam Hemming were cancelled out by four penalties from the boot of Richard Cadywould as the first half ended 12-12.

James Moffat then crossed to put the hosts ahead after the break before Hemming stretched Cinderford’s lead with a huge penalty kick from well inside his own half.

Cinderford continued to press heading into the final 10 minutes and the victory was complete when Reuben Norville raced over for the bonus-point.