Stortford take advantage as Chinnor only manage draw

League leaders Chinnor had to settle for a draw against Taunton Titans in Round 15 of National Two South meaning they are now level on points with second placed Bishop’s Stortford.

Stortford secured their ninth win in their last 10 matches to join Chinnor in the top two and only points difference separates the two sides with one game of 2016 still to come.

Both teams are still being challenged by the Old Elthamians who narrowly beat Cinderford to move to within a point of the summit.

Elsewhere in the top half, Redruth’s promotion ambitions suffered another dent over the weekend as they were beaten by the London Irish Wild Geese while Canterbury’s excellent recent form continued.

Down at the bottom, Barnes have now gone six games without a win after suffering a loss to an in-form Clifton side while Barnstaple continued their excellent recent home record.

Taunton Titans 13-13 Chinnor

Taunton Titans came from behind to claim a draw against league leaders Chinnor thanks to a late try from Richard Bright.

Trailing 13-6 with nine minutes to play, Bright’s try was converted by Gary Kingdom to snatch a share of the points.

Kingdom had given the home side the lead after just three minutes from the tee and they looked to be in the ascendency when Chinnor flanker Alex Waddingham was yellow-carded.

However, they failed to make their pressure count as Sam Angell tied the game up just before half-time with a penalty.

Junior Fatialofa was the second man to be sent to the sin-bin for Chinnor just before the break, but the visitors surprisingly went ahead after the interval when Tom Burns dotted down.

On the hour, CJ Osazuwa was yellow-carded, but Taunton yet again failed to capitalise on Chinnor ill-discipline.

However, with just under 10 minutes to go, they were able to breakthrough.

Kingdom landed his second penalty of the afternoon before Bright took advantage of an error in the Chinnor defence to race over.

Kingdom held his nerve to level the game up, but his composure unfortunately deserted him in the closing stages of this encounter as a drop-goal attempt sailed wide of the target.

Bishop's Stortford 38-7 Exmouth

Ryan Hutler scored a brace of tries as Bishops Stortford put in a dominant display against Exmouth to move into second place in National Two South.

Hutler’s second of the afternoon sealed a bonus point and a sixth home win of the season for Stortford.

Matthew Tomlinson, Nick Hankin, Sam Winter and Will Simmonds were on hand to add the hosts’ other tries as scrum-half Tom Banks kicked eight points.

No.8 Mike Richards scored Exmouth’s only try of the match late in the first-half to keep the visitors in this encounter, but after the break, the bottom side in this division were blown away.

Old Elthamians 25-24 Cinderford

A late try from Ollie Claxon saw the Old Elthamians snatch victory at home to an improving Cinderford side.

Alex Brown touched down to give the OEs an early lead before three scores from Eamonn Rees, James Tidswell and Jimmy Williams saw the visitors go in at half-time 17-10 ahead.

Tom White had added three points to the hosts’ score just before the break, but it was Cinderford that extended their advantage in the second period as Liam Hemming finished by the posts.

The OEs were now nine points down with less than 15 minutes remaining and needed a spark from somewhere and it eventually came through James Golledge.

The centre’s superb run saw the OEs earn a penalty which resulted in Tidswell being shown a yellow-card. White duly slotted the three points and with a man advantage, the pendulum had swung in the home sides’ favour.

With time ticking away, the hosts were becoming desperate, but Claxon came up with the goods when it mattered most as he produced the match-winning score two minutes from the end.

London Irish Wild Geese 29-21 Redruth

London Irish Wild Geese ended a six game losing streak as they beat Redruth at Hazlewood.

Wild Geese, who had not won since October prior to this clash, blew their visitors away in a dominant first-half as they led 19-7 through Matt Killeen, Dan Grant-Anderson and George Owen scores.

Ben Kitching crossed after the break for the home side to extend their advantage, but as the game entered the final 15 minutes, a rejuvenated Redruth side reduced the deficit to five points.

Alex Ducker scored Redruth’s first-half score and was on hand again to grab his second on the hour before Mat Gidlow forced his way over 10 minutes from the end.

But Ollie Turner’s late penalty secured a much needed win for the hosts who remain a point clear of the bottom three.

Canterbury 31-15 Bury St Edmunds

Canterbury kept their cool to secure their seventh straight victory as they beat Bury St Edmunds in Kent.

The visitors were very much in this contest right up until the final 10 minutes thanks to tries from Ben Turner and Pierre Peres and five points via the boot of Liam McBride, but late scores by the home side saw them take the game away from Bury.

A first half penalty from Tom Best and a JJ Murray try had given Canterbury a 10-0 lead, but Turner’s score and accurate kicking from the tee by McBride tied the game up at the interval.

After the break, Bury capitalised on a yellow-card shown to Max Cantwell as Peres touched down to give the away side the lead.

But, Canterbury responded to go in front once again as Murray latched on to Aiden Moss’ offload to score.

Dan Smart was then sin-binned for the hosts, but Bury were unable to use the extra man to their advantage and on his return to the field, Smart scored his 11^th try of the season.

Canterbury then went in search of a bonus-point try and when Turner was yellow-carded for Bury, the City Men did take their opportunity to profit from his absence as Guy Hilton rounded off proceedings with a try late on.

Worthing Raiders 24-29 Redingensians

The Redingensians ended a run of three successive defeats as they beat Worthing Raiders in a pulsating match at Roundstone Lane.

A Conor Corrigan try ultimately secured victory over the Raiders, who have now won just one of their last nine games.

George Montgomery’s converted try gave the hosts the lead and they then extended their advantage when Liam Perkins crossed the whitewash. Matt McLean added the conversion to take his tally to seven points.

However, the Rams hit back before the break as Jak Rossiter touched down to add to Spike Chandler’s early penalty which left them trailing 17-10.

A Penalty Try as well as scores from Tom Vooght and Corrigan helped the Redingensians carve out a 12 point lead after an excellent second-half performance.

However, Worthing hit back as Rob Smith went over, but the away sides defence was able to hold firm in the final 10 minutes to secure a fourth away win of the season.

Clifton 21-12 Barnes

Clifton’s good form continued in Round 15 as they secured their seventh win in nine games with a victory over Barnes.

The Lavender and Blacks ran in three tries to seal their eighth win of the season and maintain their excellent turnaround in form since the middle of October.

This latest triumph leaves them eighth in the table while this defeat for Barnes means they are now five points adrift of safety and in 15^th place as things stand.

Barnstaple 31-24 Henley Hawks

Barnstaple extended their winning streak at Pottingham Road to four matches as they beat relegation rivals Henley Hawks.

The home side were a try down early on after Joe Butler rounded off a wonderful solo effort, but  scores from Will Topps and Jordan Petherbridge as well as penalty from the fly-half put Barum 17-12 up at the break.

Henley’s Stuart Philpott was mauled over the line towards the end of the first period and his side began the second 40 on the front foot as Jacob Albon went over from close-range.

But back came the hosts and a sublime chip by Steve Parry was latched on to by Jake Murphy to put Barnstaple in front once again.

Nat Bayet’s try put the home side in control before a late score from Zaki Chamnaiou under a crowd of bodies snatched what could be a vital two points for the Hawks.