Chinnor boost survival hopes

From the archive, first published Tuesday 28th Jan 2003.

South West 1: Struggling Chinnor boosted their chances of avoiding the drop when they came from 12 points down to secure a vital 36-29 victory over Cheltenham at Kingsey Road.

With six of their remaining eight games at home, Chinnor are hopeful of remaining in the upper echelon of south west rugby, and this was a key win to that end.

A match of 11 tries might indicate defensive lapses, but with one exception, both sides defended bravely and resolutely.

Playing with a strong wind at their backs, Cheltenham gave the ball to their speedy backs at every opportunity, and two tries by scrum half Matt Mudway put them 12 points ahead after 18 minutes.

Bill Deeley, in at scrum half for injured Chinnor captain Ger Phillips, and the supporting Dave Seymour, set up a try for Tom Johnson, who scored wide out.

Chinnor's recovery continued, when, following a rolling maul from their increasingly influential pack, the ball was spun wide for Conor Begley to force his way over in the corner.

Cheltenham added to their lead in the sixth minute of first-half injury time when Holder went over under the posts for Slee to convert and make it 19-10 at the break.

With wind advantage in the second half, Chinnor were immediately on the attack.

Deeley exploited a gap around the fringes of a ruck to race some 20 metres and score near the posts for Begley to add the extra points.

Full back Alan Cawston then forced his way over, before Jacques Nel strolled through the entire Cheltenham forwards to touch down unopposed under the posts.

With Johnson intercepting an errant Cheltenham pass in midfield and sprinting 60 metres to score under the posts, Begley's conversion meant Chinnor had scored 26 points in 13 minutes.

As Chinnor tired, Cheltenham began to win a surfeit of possession, which resulted in two more tries.

However, it took nothing away from a stirring display by Chinnor, with Mark Weeks-Pearson making an impressive debut.