Rams’ late comeback falls short in thriller
CHINNOR narrowly claimed victory in what was described by the club’s director of rugby Matt Williams as “one of the best games of rugby you will see at National 2 South level”.
Chinnor began the day nine points ahead of the Rams, meaning a bonus point win would take the Reading men within touching distance of the away side, and with a real chance to push for promotion.
It was not to be, as Chinnor secured victory as they thwarted every one of the Rams advances.
Later Williams said: “I thought the paying spectators got their money’s worth today. It was a great game of rugby.
“We were able to nullify their threats defensively in the first half, but the Redingensians threw the kitchen sink at us in the second half and we clung on for five points, which was what today was all about.”
Before the game could get underway there was a minute’s silence to commemorate the tragic passing of Simon Priestley, who tragically collapsed on the pitch and later died while playing for Henley Bears against High Wycombe last week.
Chinnor made their intentions known quickly as they played the Rams at their own game, driving from a line out with Jack Ramshaw taking the ball over the line to open the scoring within the first five minutes.
Nonetheless, the Rams, not wanting to succumb to the high pressure surrounding the game, replied five minutes later with a try from Ben Henderson following a dynamic onetwo.
Chinnor maintained their composure and went on to extend their lead with two tries from Mike Mac-
Donald and Phil Chesters making it 21-8, despite the setback of a yellow card to Joe Hutchinson.
At the beginning of the second half the away side extended their lead even further with two more tries from Willie Ryan and Jonny Bentley.
However, the Rams came back with tries from Matt Weller and Jak Rossiter, recently back from injury, taking them within two points of their league rivals.
With the crowd behind them, the Reading men came charging forward in search of the final few points to claim victory.
Despite this, it was not to be as the Rams were taken into touch and the players fell to their knees upon hearing the sound of the whistle.
Redingensians head coach Seb Reynolds was disappointed as his side left themselves too much to do in the latter stages.
“It was a great game of rugby, we tried to come back at them at the end but it just wasn’t enough,” he said.
“Fair play to Chinnor, they did their homework and they’ve done a good job, but some of our attacking play and the passion we showed was brilliant so I’m very proud of the players.”