South West Division 1 report

From the archive, first published Tuesday 19th Nov 2002.

Chinnor were literally not at the races for the first five minutes of their match at Cheltenham.

The Oxfordshire side had been delayed in a traffic jam caused by the Cheltenham National Hunt meeting, which curtailed their warm-up.

The host club took advantage by racing to a 14-point lead in the first five minutes. So Chinnor, who eventually lost 26-20, actually won the rest of the game!

Chinnor recovered so well that they went a point in front early in the second half.

Tries by prop Simon Matthews and centre Louw Kruger, plus a conversion and penalty by Conor Begley, put them into an unlikely 15-14 lead.

Cheltenham landed two penalties, but Chinnor hit back to level with a try by centre Darren Oxley, who missed the conversion after Begley had been injured in the build-up to the score.

With the visitors having to reshuffle their side, Cheltenham kicked another penalty, before sealing the result with a drop goal in injury time.

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