Old Elthamians lose ground in title race

With promotion rivals Chinnor and Bishop’s Stortford securing victories, Old Elthamians failed to keep pace with their fellow title contenders as they were beaten by Taunton Titans.

It is the second consecutive defeat for OEs and it leaves them six points behind the top two, while the win for Taunton may just have reignited their promotion hopes.

With OEs losing, Redruth have moved up to third following a convincing win over Barnes while Cinderford, Canterbury and Redingensians all sealed wins.

In the bottom half of the table, the only side to win in Round 20 were Henley Hawks who clinched their second away triumph of the season.

Exmouth 20-37 Chinnor

Chinnor looked back to their best as they remained top of National Two South following victory over bottom of the table Exmouth.

Chinnor took a 19-6 lead thanks to tries from Nathan Hannay, Charlie Broughton and Kieran Goss, but Exmouth pulled themselves right back into this contest just before half-time as Charlie Gibbings added to Richard Cadywould’s earlier penalties as he scored the hosts’ first try of the afternoon.

Hannay extended Chinnor’s lead just three minutes after the interval as he grabbed his second try of the afternoon, but once again Exmouth responded as Mark Wathes made it 24-20 following a yellow-card shown to Chinnor’s Ben Manning.

Matt Williams’ side responded immediately with a Roddy Giles penalty before replacement fly-half Basil Strang created a cushion for Chinnor as he landed another three points. Strang, who scored all 16 of Chinnor’s points in their win over Redingensians last weekend, wrapped up proceedings in this contest as the converted his own try in the final few minutes to keep Chinnor top of the pile.

Clifton 18-43 Bishop’s Stortford

Jimmy Rea scored a hat-trick as Bishop’s Stotford kept the pressure on league leaders Chinnor with a victory over Clifton.

The visitors got off to a dream start thanks to converted tries from Nick Hankin and Rea.

Stortford continued to go through the gears as Sam Winter, Pier Dotta and Rea again all crossed to give Stortford a 31-11 half-time lead with Bradley Barnes slotting over two penalties for Clifton while Max Woodward dotted down.

Rea sealed his hat-trick after the break but the game was over shadowed by indiscipline as Stortford were shown three yellow cards while Alex Giltrow was sent-off for Clifton.

The 14-men hosts saw Seb Brownhill cross for Stortford’s sixth try of the afternoon before Chris Rovery completed the scoring as he went over for a consolation try for the home side.

Barnes 0-33 Redruth

Redruth are up to third in the National Two South table thanks to a convincing victory over Barnes in London.

The Cornwall side were 21-0 up at half-time following a Penalty Try and scores from Kyle Marriott and Lewis Vinnicombe.

Barnes, who were on a three match unbeaten run prior to this fixture, were hit by a fourth Redruth try on the hour when Alex Ducker crossed after a great run by Vinnicombe.

Ducker got his second score nine minutes from the end to put the icing on the cake for Marek Churcher’s men who are now just four points outside the top two.

Old Elthamians 16-22 Taunton Titans

Gary Kingdom’s last-gasp try saw Taunton Titans snatch victory from Old Elthamians at Hyde Park as the hosts’ top two ambitions were given a boost.

This crucial victory for Taunton leaves them only six points outside the promotion places while a defeat for OEs has put a dent in their title aspirations.

Dan Frost crossed early for the Titans before the hosts extended their lead to 10-6 before half-time as Freddie Fraser darted over.

Alec Chase was yellow-carded for Tony Yapp’s side after the break, but Taunton were able to increase their lead in his absence as Ratu Vakalutukali crossed for their third try of the afternoon.

Just before Chase returned to the field, OEs closed the gap with another penalty but then they took the lead with 10 minutes remaining as Dominic Lespierre dotted down.

Two weeks ago the winger looked as though he had given Gavin Lach’s side the victory against Bishop’s Stortford, but it was snatched away from them and history was set to repeat itself.

With Taunton fighting desperately to steal the win, they were awarded a penalty in kicking range. Kingdom turned down the chance to slot the three points and his quick thinking saw him tap the ball and dive over the try line as the OEs lost their concentration while the Titans stole the victory.

Cinderford 43-0 London Irish Wild Geese

Cinderford romped to a six-tries-to-nil win over London Irish Wild Geese in National Two South at Dockham Road.

Winger Harrison Yorke touched down twice against the visitors who were unable to muster a response on the scoreboard.

Yorke claimed his first in the opening period and was joined by Joe Mullis and James Tidswell who also crossed.

Yorke’s second came after the break, as did those of Reuben Norville and Dale Lemon as Cinderford made it five wins on the bounce.

Canterbury 13-7 Worthing Raiders

Worthing Raiders suffered an eighth defeat to stay in the relegation zone as Canterbury returned to winning ways at The Marine Travel Ground.

Winger Karyim Irving gave the visitors a 7-0 lead which was reduced to just two points before the interval as Guy Hilton crossed for his 17^th try of the season for Canterbury.

The hosts scored eight unanswered points after the break, a penalty from Tom Best and a try from Guy Thompson.

Worthing battled bravely to try and leave Kent with something more than a losing bonus-point, but the hosts survived to clinch their seventh home win of the term.

Barnstaple 7-14 Redingensians

Redingensians won a battle of attrition against Barnstaple as a late try from Steve Bryant saw the Rams secure their first win in 2017.

The game was level at 7-7 at the break courtesy of a converted Tom Vooght try before Barnstaple levelled it up when James Bath darted over on the half-hour mark.

Redingensians could’ve led at half-time, but were denied by some strong defence from Barum and the hosts began on the front foot, but  they too failed to capitalise on their opportunities.

Instead, the Rams claimed their maiden victory of the year as Bryant joined a lineout drive to score the winning try three minutes from time.

Bury St Edmunds 21-27 Henley Hawks

Henley Hawks held off a spirited Bury St Edmunds fightback to secure only their second away win of the season in an entertaining clash in Suffolk.

Xavier Andre’s fourth-minute try set the tone before Connor Morrison and Simon Perry both crossed to put Henley in control as they led 17-0 at the break.

For the second week in a row, this was a poor first-half performance from Bury and it cost them yet again, despite a much improved display in the second 40.

Sam Sterling’s try straight after the interval gave Bury some hope in this contest, but their hard work was undone when Morrison was once again driven over to secure the bonus-point for the Hawks.

Alan Awcock was shown a straight red-card for the visitors for a punch, but even after his dismissal, George Jackson was still able to extend Henley’s lead to 13 points.

The final quarter of this game saw Bury capitalise on the extra man as Sterling and then Sean Stapleton both touched down to reduce Henley’s lead to six points, but it was yet again too little, too late for the home side who are now nervously looking over their shoulders at the drop zone.