Chiltern survives second half fightback to take the honours

The return of tight-head prop Stuart Day gave the pack added stability from the outset and allowed good clean ball from the scrums. This was ably utilised by No 8 Tom Blackburn and scrum-half Rhys Keith, who created holes and overlaps that gave momentum to the speedy three-quarter line.

Unfortunately, an injury to loose-head prop Matt Allen just before the break and a lack of a like-for-like replacement, meant that Tom Blackburn had to fill in at prop. This, together with the fact that Rhys Keith had to leave the field soon after the restart with an ankle injury, disrupted the smooth cohesion so obvious in the first half and allowed the visitors to come back into the game; scoring three tries themselves and causing concern amongst the home supporters right up to the final whistle. The second half was also marred by an injury to the referee, who continued but was obviously feeling decidedly groggy from an accidental bang to the head.

The home side started and immediately caused problems to the opposition, driving deep into their half and recycling the ball well. With eight minutes gone, Tom Blackburn drove up the centre, the ball was moved right and then swiftly back inside to find skipper Tom Grammenos on a charge, breaking two tackles to score next to the post. Converted by Jack Kenyon, the home side were in the lead 7-0.

Chiltern maintained their dominance and after 25 minutes superb handling and support play at a blistering pace led to a break by Rhys Keith and a try for him on the right; well converted by Jack Kenyon, taking the score on to 14-0. With injury time approaching, the home side attacked again in the visitor’s 22 and the ball was swiftly moved out to Jack Kenyon on the wing. Coming off his right foot seemingly into a wall of defenders, he miraculously jinked his way right though to score by the posts, converting his own try and moving the score to an impressive 21-0.

Finally, from the restart and now in injury time, the visitors tried to run the ball out of their own half but only succeeded in giving a simple interception pass to David John, who ran in virtually unopposed for the fourth and bonus point try, converted again by Jack Kenyon. So the sides went in for the break at 28-0 to the jubilant home side.

The disruptions caused by the injuries to key players saw a much more hesitant home side commence the second half. Now playing with the breeze, the visitors swiftly grew in confidence and they scored two tries from breaks through the centre in quick succession. Both were, however, unconverted so the score moved to 28-10.

A yellow card for Stuart Day and now no front row replacement, meant that uncontested scrums were required for a ten minute period and the visitors capitalised on the numerical advantage, scoring a further try on the left, again unconverted, but closing the gap to only 28-15. With numbers restored, however, the home side weathered the remaining time to notch a very good win and to deny the visitors even a losing bonus point.

Match report by Andy Gillanders