Chinnor shatters Taunton’s 18 month unbeaten home record

CHINNOR RFC travelled to Taunton with the same victorious team from the previous weekend, knowing that no team had won there in the last 18 months.

Chinnor played with a strong wind in the first half and it only took 5 minutes for their forwards to drive a maul towards the Taunton line enabling Ben Manning to force himself over for the opening try, well converted by Sam Angell from the touchline.

Taunton’s counter attacks were well contained by the Chinnor defence and Angell’s boot regularly returned play into the Taunton half. Another Chinnor driving maul from a line out sucked in the opposition allowing Junior Fatialofa to dance through a gap and crash over under the posts for Chinnor’s second try converted by Angell.

Just before half time Taunton pressure caused them to charge down a Chinnor kick and boot it to the Chinnor try line. Centre Freddie Fraser won the foot race to score Taunton’s first try bringing the half time score to 5 – 14 in Chinnor’s favour.

Taunton started the second half much as Chinnor did using the wind and driving mauls to good effect. Full back Kingdom soon reduced their arrears to 8-14 with a penalty. A Chinnor blind side break eased the pressure when winger Henry Lamont sprinted 50 metres only to be taken out by a high tackle, resulting in a yellow card for Taunton and the loss of a certain score to Chinnor.

Taunton maintained their pressure and a quickly taken penalty caught Chinnor’s defence unprepared allowing No 8 Sam Prior to charge over the line to score a try converted by Kingdom giving Taunton a one point lead, 15-14.

Chinnor forwards rose to the challenge and rampaged into the Taunton half with driving runs from the back row led by George Messum, ably supported by James Tyas and Alex Waddingham. Another blind side break and swift handling, particularly by Frank Jones, put winger Heath away to score an unconverted try in the corner to return the lead to Chinnor 19-15.

Five minutes later, the forwards again drove deep into Taunton’s territory with replacement Jamie Townsend foraging and finally driving over for Chinnor’s 4th, bonus point try converted by Angell. With 15 minutes left Taunton tried every tactic to score but Chinnor’s defence stood resolute with continuous tackling by the three quarters and a set of forwards who refused to capitulate in the face of the Taunton Titans’ onslaught

Chinnor’s 26 – 15 victory caused a silent Taunton crowd to reflect on the loss of their 18 month home record while the few Chinnor supporters were loudly ecstatic with their team’s performance – which lifts them well out of the relegation zone.

SOURCE: Contributed