Chinnor come from behind to beat Titans

Chinnor 38 Taunton Titans 29

Chinnor played host to fourth-placed Taunton Titans on Saturday hoping to maintain their season-long unbeaten record at Kingsey Road and a National 1 play off place alive.

On a pleasant sunny day ideal for running rugby, Chinnor's right wing Luke Hibberd made an early break from deep. Pulled down just before the line, No 8 Tom Burns went over from the resulting scrum with Jonny Bentley converting for a 7-0 lead.

From the restart, Titans full back Gary Kingdom missed a penalty opportunity to get the visitors on the scoreboard. Chinnor cleared and nearly went over again soon after when fly half Bentley made a break in midfield only for the ball to be held up over the line.

The Titans were under pressure at this stage but moved upfield and levelled the game on 21 minutes when hooker Jon Gatford drove over from a 5m lineout. Kingdom converted from wide out.

Chinnor's flanker Alex Bradley was yellow carded on 26 minutes and Taunton made the extra man tell when No 8 Arron Gibbs crashed over after some sustained pressure. Kingdom again converted for a 14-7 lead.

Taunton continued to press with ball in hand and went further ahead from another catch and drive close in. Gatford again the scorer. The conversion was missed and the half ended 19-7 to the visitors.

Chinnor had it all to do in the second half and after some early pressure, Tom Burns drove over for his second try of the match. The conversion was missed and Taunton came straight back with a Kingdom penalty to make it 22-12.

The Black & Whites needed to up their game and after a superb Tom Burns line break in midfield, were awarded a penalty try when Titans captain Nick Mason was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on a try scoring pass. Jonny Bentley converted for 22-19 on 57 minutes.

Chinnor were now in full flow and on 60 minutes a delightfully executed cross field kick by Bentley put winger Charlie Broughton in at the corner. The conversion made it 26-22 and a try bonus point secured.

Luke Hibberd went close to touching down soon after but from the 22m dropout, Chinnor captain Barnes dived over in the corner after a Bentley chip and catch. The conversion was missed for 31-22.

With seven minutes to go a Danny Barnes break in midfield led to replacement hooker Jamie Townsend powering over for Chinnor's 6th try. Greg Goodfellow took over the kicking duties and converted to make the score 38-22.

As the clock ticked down, Titans pressed for their bonus point try and were rewarded when Lewis Webb crashed over on 80 minutes. An all-in melee delayed Gary Kingdom’s successful conversion which brought the game to a close 38-29.

Chinnor remain unbeaten at home for the season and the try bonus point means the play off place will be decided in the last game next weekend.

Titans head coach Tony Yapp said after the match: "Both teams looked to play as much rugby as they could. We started well but second half Chinnor got themselves back in the game and have some good players. Once the momentum had shifted, it was hard for us to get back into it.”

For Chinnor DOR Matt Williams: "It was a very good second half performance after a nervous start. Fair play to Taunton, they gave us a scare but all credit to the players for scoring five tries after the break.”

Teams

Chinnor

Kieran Goss, Luke Hibberd, Danny Barnes ©, Bevon Armitage, Charlie Broughton, Jonny Bentley, Greg Goodfellow, Tom Price, Mark Darlington, Jay Tyack, CJ Osazuwa, Ben Manning, Richard Thorpe, Alex Bradley, Tom Burns

Interchanges: Joe Hutchinson, Andy Berry, Jamie Townsend, Ben Pienaar, Junior Fatialofa

Taunton Titans

Gary Kingdom, Oli Massy-Birch, Nick Mason ©, Tom Popham, Freddie Fraser, Ted Landray, Lewis Webb, Alec Chase, Jon Gatford, Charlie Tribble, Stuart Persey, Sean Lonsdale, Conor Harbison, Dan Frost, Arron Gibbs

Interchanges: Elliot Roofe, Tom Rhodes, Blake Lugg, Tom Lawday, Will Siddle

Scorers

Chinnor

Tries (time): Burns 7, 45, Pen 56, Broughton 60, Barnes 65, Townsend 74

Conversions (time): Bentley 8, 57, 61, Goodfellow 75

Penalty Goals (time):

Taunton

Tries (time): Gatford 20, Gibbs 28, Gatford 39, Webb 79

Conversions (time): Kingdom 21, 29, 80

Penalty Goals (time): Kingdom 47

Referee: Mr Veryan Boscawen

Attendance: 793