Always a stern test at Sonning, Chinnor left it late to overcome Redigensians 32-17 to maintain their winning start to the season.
Rams went into an early lead with a penalty goal by Atkins. Chinnor then began to build pressure in Rams' half with a series of attacks in the 22. They foundered on stiff resistance until Kieron Goss found a hole for Chinnor's first try after 18 minutes. Chinnor continued building attacks in Rams' 22 and were rewarded a few minutes later when Danny Barnes, out wide slowly strolled over unopposed for Chinnor's second try, converted by Bertie Hopkin. With Rams' Vooght yellow carded for scooping the ball back from a ruck, Hopkin increased the Chinnor lead to 15-3 from a penalty goal. Barnes then went over for Chinnor's third, expertly diving full length to field the ball and then casually getting up to dot down for a 20-3 lead. Rams then began to get more into the match and a series of quick rucks ended with Dan Sanders crashing over for Rams' first try just as the half finished. With Atkins conversion, the visitors held a 20-10 half time lead.
Clearly heartened by their first score, Rams began to dominate territory. A series of scrums near the Chinnor line saw the home pack begin to dominate and force a series of scrum penalties. The referee, Mr Lewars, then lost patience and sin binned Chinnor's Jay Tyack for collapsing the scrum. From the next scrum, Rams' No 8 picked up and barrelled over for Rams' second try. Atkins' conversion narrowed the score to 17-20. Momentum was now clearly with Rams, particularly with their dominant scrum. However, Chinnor's introduction of prop Andy Berry immediately evened up the scrum and Chinnor began to attack again. A long period of Chinnor possession ended with skipper Bevon Armitage bursting through to dot down Chinnor's bonus point try on 59 minutes. Hopkin's conversion eased the pressure further. The last 10 minutes were all Chinnor against a valiant home defence in the 22. The dam broke when Messum picked from the back of a ruck and went straight through it to score Chinnor's fifth for a 32-17 victory.
Redingensians Rams always give Chinnor a tough day at the office and this was no exception. Seeming to start to build a big score, Rams came back hard to narrow the gap to just three points. Their strengthening scrum was looking worrying until Andy Berry came on to shore up the Chinnor scrum most effectively and help swing the match back towards Chinnor. Again, Chinnor's defence was instrumental in gaining the victory. Midfield defence and a hustling back row gave Chinnor the edge. However, Nathan Hannay's grappling skills in the maul often blunted a potent Rams weapon and earns him Man of the Match laurels.
Teams
Redingensians
Joe Duffelen, Jak Rossiter, Steve Bryant, Dan Barnes, Sean McDermottroe, Jacob Atkins, Chico U'Chong, Matt Weller, Ben Henderson, Sean McDonnell-Roberts, Ollie Taylor, Tom Bryson, Samir Kharbouch, Tom Vooght, Robbie Stapley
Interchanges: Ross Crame, Jack Steadman, Justin Allen, Andy Amor, Dan Sanders
Chinnor
Kieran Goss, Danny Barnes, Bevon Armitage, Junior Fatialofa, Henry Lamont, Bertie Hopkin, Frank Jones, Ricky Cano, Jamie Townsend, Jay Tyack, Nathan Hannay, CJ Osazuwa, Richard Thorpe, George Messum, Tom Burns
Interchanges: Andy Berry, Jon Phipps, Tom Price, Greg Goodfellow, Luke Hibberd
Scorers
Redingensians
Tries (time): Sanders (38), Stapley (52)
Conversions (time): Atkins (39, 53)
Penalty Goals (time): Atkins (5)
Chinnor
Tries (time): Goss (18), Barnes (24, 31), Armitage (59), Messum (77)
Conversions (time): Hopkin (25, 61)
Penalty Goals (time): Hopkin (28)
Referee: Jack Lewars
Attendance: 309
Half time score: 10-20
Full time score: 17-32
Star Player: Nathan Hannay (Chinnor)
