With Chiltern having always played in South West and Tring in London it was quite surreal to travel just eight miles for a local derby but very welcome for all that.

Having made an impressive start last week, Chiltern were forced into a couple of personnel changes which disrupted their play at the start of the game which belonged to Tring who were much sharper to the breakdown and took advantage of some sloppy line-out work by Chiltern to secure a strong foothold in the visitors 22; they were duly rewarded with a penalty which they thoroughly deserved.

Some better play saw Chiltern gain welcome ground but an injury to young winger Joe Stevens further disrupted Chiltern’s back line and turnover ball saw Tring break out of their half and a well weighted kick by their 10 and a rather cruel bounce allowed Tring’s pacy left wing to get to the wobbling ball first and score in the left hand corner. Stalwart Tom Newton duly converted the try to give Tring a 10 point lead.

Chiltern were however coming more and more into the game and after better handling and driving forward play a quickly recycled ball found its way to the outstanding No 8 Tom Blackburn who broke two tackles for a try converted by David John.

The score stayed like this for the remainder of the half despite chances for both sides.

The second half started very much like the first with a couple of dropped passes yielding field position and an opportunity for Tring’s full back to extend their lead to 13-7. Despite completely failing to come to terms with the referee's interpretation at the breakdown and conceding numerous penalties, Chiltern had much more possession and after dropping the ball under the posts when a try seemed certain, a further infringement saw David John narrow Tring’s lead to 13-10.

Chiltern were now pressing hard but yet another dropped ball, when in a super position, saw Tring move the ball back 60 metres and their full back kicked another penalty to extend their lead to 16-10.

Chiltern spent the final ten minutes camped in the Tring 22 but just could not find their way over the try line and a very relieved Tring welcomed the final whistle to claim four points, limiting Chiltern to a losing bonus point.

That said, six points from two away games is a pretty good return given the extensive injury list in key positions and the team will regroup this week ahead of welcoming Bury St Edmunds to Weedon Lane for the first home game of the season.

Match report by Charles Owen-Conway