Chinnor rout Raiders to stay clear of the rest

Worthing Raiders arrived on Saturday after an inconsistent season thus far and they were never a match for Chinnor who themselves were keen to bounce back from defeat.

There were five changes in the pack with a new front combination row of Tom Price, Mark and Andy Darlington, Ross Parkins was back in the starting XV for CJ Osazuwa and Gus Jones replaced Alex Waddingham on the openside. In the backs, Sam Angell came in for the injured Bertie Hopkin, Bevon Armitage was back in the centre and Steve Castle replaced Callum Wilson on the wing. Danny Barnes retained the Captaincy.

Early Chinnor possession and pressure in the first half led to a try by Steve Castle after eight minutes and a penalty by Worthing’s Mathew McLean was answered by a well-worked Nathan Hannay try converted by Sam Angell.

Chinnor tried to force the pace of the game in the early stages which led to numerous handling errors and scoring opportunities squandered. Throughout the game the Chinnor scrummage was dominant but they did not capitalise on this in the early exchanges.

On 32 minutes, Chinnor’s captain Danny Barnes was sent off for careless footwork and Worthing capitalised getting a well worked try from Dan Sargent which McLean converted.

Going in 12-10 at the half time break and with a man advantage gave the visitors a different perspective with the Chinnor supporters looking apprehensive.

The second half was a reward for the dominance of the outstanding Chinnor pack who scrummaged superbly to set up seven tries without reply. The first came from a rolling maul finished by Tom Burns after 44 minutes, quickly followed by a similar effort from openside Gus Jones. This gave Chinnor their try bonus point and with Sam Angell converting the first try, the lead was out to two scores at 24-10 and some breathing space.

Angell then deservedly scored with an individual effort under the posts which he duly converted. This was just reward for his all round game. Keiron Goss added a trademark try on 60 minutes again converted by Angell, as was Nathan Hannay’s second try following another forward surge.

With the numbers evened up following a Worthing yellow card, Bevon Armitage and Jamie Townsend completed the scoring with the latter being try of the game. Angell again converted for a personal tally of 17 points.

This was a big win for The Villagers after an excellent second half performance set up by a well drilled pack. Chinnor played much of the game with 14 men but stay top of National League 2 South in the run up to the New Year.

As we arrive at the halfway point of the season, Chinnor travel to 4th-placed Taunton Titans no doubt buoyed by their head-to-head win over Redruth at the weekend. A victory on the road for Chinnor could prove critical in the race for promotion.