Chinnor take advantage of postponements

After a few difficult weeks for Chinnor, they now find themselves back on top of the National Two South table thanks to victory over the Redingensians.

Their promotion rivals Bishop’s Stortford and Old Elthamians had their matches called off against Canterbury and Worthing Raiders respectivley due to bad weather conditions which allowed Matt Williams’ men to keep the pressure on the teams around them. Obviously the aforementioned sides will have games in hand, but for now, Chinnor will be pleased that they were able to secure a victory.

Below the top three sides, Redruth were given a scare by bottom of the table Exmouth who nearly caused one of the shocks of the season at the Recreation Ground while Taunton Titans lost ground in the promotion hunt as they were beaten at home by an in-form Cinderford side.

Elsewhere, Clifton beat Barnstaple while London Irish Wild Geese picked up a crucial win against Bury St Edmunds. Barnes v Henley was postponed.

Chinnor 16-10 Redingensians

Basil Strang’s superb performance guided Chinnor back to the top of the National Two South table as they beat Redingensians at Kingsey Road.

Both Bishop’s Stortford  and Old Elthamians’ matches were postponed, so Matt Williams’ side had the opportunity to crank up the pressure on their promotion rivals and Chinnor did just that.

The hosts established an early lead through two Strang penalties and despite Sam Guttridge landing three points for the visitors, Chinnor went into the break 13-3 ahead as Strang added to his earlier penalties by converting his own try.

The Oxford University half back extended the home sides’ lead after the interval as he stroked over his third penalty of the match, but Jack Tyack was then sin-binned which allowed the Rams back into this contest.

Jak Rossiter capitalised on the extra man as he collected Ollie Foxley’s kick to reduce the deficit to six points and suddenly the hosts were on the ropes. But, Chinnor managed to dig deep and produce some valiant defending to secure a vital win.

Redruth 33-32 Exmouth

Redruth made it four wins on the spin, but were made to work hard for their latest victory against a spirited Exmouth side at the Recreation Ground.

Tries from Ben Priddy and Jack Oulton gave Redruth a narrow 14-10 lead at the break after Exmouth had briefly gone ahead thanks to a Ruairi Cushion score and five points from the boot of Richard Cadywould.

A second Cadywould penalty put Exmouth in front at the start of the second period before Redruth’s fly-half Angus Taylor darted under the posts to allow Brett Rule a simple conversion.

Exmouth responded once again as Isaac Dalton barged his way over, but Redruth were able to create some breathing space for themselves as Priddy and Shaun Buzza dotted down either side of a yellow-card show to Mike Richards.

With the Devonshire side back to their full complement, Charlie Gibbings crossed to make the score 33-25 and Exmouth secured two bonus-point from their trip to Cornwall as Jack Downie went over late on for the divisions’ bottom club.

Taunton Titans 20-27 Cinderford

Cinderford extended their winning streak to four matches with victory over Taunton Titans at Hyde Park as the hosts lost ground in the promotion race.

Cinderford fly-half James Moffatt opened the scoring from tee, but Taunton hit back as Nick Mason crossed for an unconverted try following yellow-cards shown to Jack Shields and Matt Lane.

But the hosts were able to go into the break ahead as Reuben Norville dotted down to make it 8-5.

Shields returned to the field after the interval and found himself on the scoresheet as he finished off a superb move to extend Cinderford’s lead. Taunton responded to going further behind as Freddie Fraser dotted down to close the gap to five points.

However, Sam Goatley was next to cross for the away side and with the game still in the balance with 10 minutes remaining, Liam Hemming ultimately secured the victory for Cinderford as he scored a stunning try to make it 27-13.

There was still time for the home side to score again through prop Elliot Roofe, but it was Cinderford who were once again celebrating as their excellent recent form continues.

Clifton 24-22 Barnstaple

Clifton reversed the result from earlier in the season with Barnstaple to clinch victory at Station Road.

The South Gloucestershire side were beaten 24-22 at the start of October by Barum, but this time they were able to avenge their defeat.

After a Penalty Try cancelled out Bradley Barnes’ early try, Max Woodward levelled the game up for Clifton with a converted try five minutes before half-time, but a score from James Starkey put the away side 15-10 up.

Clifton hit back through a Dan Wells try, but the lead changed hands once again when Luke Berry touched down from close range.

Barum then had Will Topps yellow-carded and the home side took full advantage of their extra man as Alex Giltrow scored a try which Barnes converted to ultimately seal the win for the Lavender and Blacks.

Barnstaple fly-half Jordan Petherbridge had the chance to win the game late on, but his penalty sailed wide of the posts.

London Irish Wild Geese 36-24 Bury St Edmunds

London Irish Wild Geese secured a vital win as they beat relegation rivals Bury St Edmunds thanks to a superb first-half performance.

Centre Ben Kitching, wingers George Owen (2) and Matt Killeen, full-back Ollie Turner and hooker Mike Bunn all scored tries as Wild Geese led 36-7 at half-time.

Sam Bixby was Bury’s only try scored in the first period, but the visitors looked a totally different side after the break.

Tom Rock glided over just three minutes into the second-half and any thoughts of a remarkable comeback were increased when Bunn was red-carded for the hosts.

Michael Mellett and Darren Gillespie both crossed to reduce Wild Geese’s lead to just 12 points with 15 minutes remaining, but Bury were unable to make any more inroads as the home side somehow regained their composure to hold off their opposition.