Resilient Chiltern come away with maximum points

Chiltern travelled the short distance to Harrow RFC with a much changed side, as the dreaded injury jinx took hold again at Weedon Lane.

The visitors started brightly and controlled possession and territory throughout the first half. No8 Jordan Scott charged a clearance kick down and gathered the loose ball to crash over for a try on 7 minutes, followed mid way through the half by an intelligent chip and chase from fly half Joe Butler, who scored under the posts which Andy Fluker converted. He added a penalty after 32 minutes and with Harrow kicking a penalty deep into first half injury time, Chiltern finished in a strong position at 3-15.

The second half started in fine style. Skipper Zane Turner and wing George Wood worked the blindside with strong runs, and a mazy run from centre Josh Davies set up fellow centre Sam Portland for a great try in the corner, converted by Andy Fluker for a 3-22 lead.

Three yellow cards for the visitors in quick succession reduced Chiltern to 12 men on the pitch, during which they scored a fourth try with Joe Butler running half the length of the pitch after a midfield break following a magnificent tackle from prop Tom Handford generated loose ball. Fluker added the extras for 3-29.

However, the overlaps and gaps appeared for the home team to exploit with their numerical advantage and Harrow’s two late tries were no less than they deserved for a 13-29 final score.

Our scrum and line-out again functioned very well; lock Mark Jones and tight head Lewis Edwards having storming games. Gareth Wehrle played his first match of the season at blindside and added steel and aggression in the loose.

Given the circumstances and patchwork team, this was a good result to take into the Bucks Cup semi final under floodlights on Friday night at Weedon Lane against Aylesbury.

Match report by Spike Stevens