First home victory for Chinnor RFC

CHINNOR RFC recorded their first home victory of the season on Saturday (21/11), scoring five tries in a 31-17 defeat of Clifton.

Solidarity with Paris shown before the match on Saturday at Chinnor Rugby Club

Clifton were first on the scoreboard with a converted try from Sam Harrison who came from deep behind dummy runners to find a hole in the Chinnor defence. Chinnor drew level on 24 minutes when debutant fly half Kieran Goss weaved through the visiting defence to put Jake Olley in under the posts for a converted try. Chinnor went into a 12-7 lead just four minutes later when a fine rapid handling move saw Lloret in at the corner. The conversion from Heath increased the Chinnor lead to 14-7. With most of the play in the Clifton half, a penalty goal from Clifton’s Barnes just before half time saw the visitors close the deficit to 14-10 at the break.

After 10 minutes of the second half, a neat line break from the visitors and an inside pass to To’oala saw the former Chinnor favourite put Clifton ahead 15-14. Barnes’ conversion put Clifton ahead 17-15. Chinnor began to play accurately at pace and came back through the increasingly influential Goss whose break led to a try for Goodfellow on 56 minutes. Heath’s conversion put Chinnor back in the lead 21-17 with 57 minutes played. Chinnor dominated the last quarter and Heath got on the end of a long miss pass to go in at the corner on 64 minutes to increase the home lead to 26-17. Chinnor then spent most of the remaining time battering a most resilient Clifton defence. However, despite their sustained endeavours, it took until the 80th minute for Chinnor’s last score when Heath again went over for a try from a quickly taken tap penalty to finish the match for a 31 -17 victory to Chinnor.

Clifton, particularly in the backs, played some accurate and pacey football but struggled to find territory and a forgiving defence. Chinnor’s victory was founded on a cohesive display from the forwards with the omnipresent Manning leading the charge. However, it was the backs who contributed all the points. Oscar Heath, back after a long time out, showed how much the club has missed him, contributing 16 points on the day. It took a most impressive debut to shade Oscar Heath’s comprehensive performance but new boy Kieran Goss at fly half pulled all the strings and kept Chinnor on the front foot throughout and is deservedly man of the match.

Chinnor
Oscar Heath, Salva Lloret, Junior Fatialofa, Jake Olley, Kieran Goss, Frank Jones, Samuel Fisher, Jamie Townsend, Andy Darlington, Daz Oliver, Ben Manning, Andy Tibbatts, Ryan Long, James Tyas (c)

Interchanges: Mark Darlington, Jay Tyack, Tom Burns, Greg Goodfellow, Alex Dancer

Clifton
Callum Roberts, Alan Wheller, Sam Harrison, Danny Wells, Elias Caven, Bradley Barnes, Mitch Spencer, Jordan Brodley, Jack Williams, Josh Ibuanokpe, Gavin Curry, Andy Cannock, Joe Quinn (c), Mike Uren, Alfie To’oala

Interchanges: Alex Giltrow, David Wheeler, Louis Wolfe, William Pomphrey, Sam Boyland

Scorers

Chinnor
Tries (time): Olley (24), Lloret (28), Goodfellow (56), Heath (64, 80)
Conversions (time): Heath (25, 29, 57)
Penalty Goals (time):

Clifton
Tries (time): Harrison (12), To’oala (51)
Conversions (time): Barnes (12, 51)
Penalty Goals (time): Barnes (35)

Referee: Philip Davies
Attendance: 313
Half time score: 14-10
Full time score: 31-17
Star man: Kieran Goss (Chinnor)

SOURCE: Contributed by Bill O’Donnell