Chiltern leave it late to beat Hendon

In a match that could have swung either way, Chiltern 3xv were fortunate to come away with the victory.

The scoring was opened in the first 5 minutes by a great individual run from Tristan Lothian. Josh Davies converted 7-0
The second try came soon after and a good half break from Steve Scopes offloaded well to Josh Davies to race in and score under the posts. Conversion missed 12-0

Hendon made their way into the game and were rewarded with a penalty after 20 minutes to make the score 12-3.
The momentum was then with Hendon and their pack were starting to take control in the tight resulting in their first try after good work in the scrum & maul. The conversion was missed making the score 12-8 at half time.

HT 12-8

The Chiltern set piece struggled for most of the match and Hendon were street smart to focus on this area; their second try coming from another poor scrum and Chiltern were behind for the first time in the match. Hendon converted their try making the score 15-12 to them.

Chiltern then hit back with a try from Steve Scopes putting Chiltern back in the lead. Will Browne converted to make it 19-15.
Another try soon after put Chiltern back on top when Tom Smalley ghosted through the defence from halfway making the score 24-15. Conversion missed

One of the frustrated Hendon forwards clearly came in at the side of the ruck, followed up with a few punches and was rightly yellow carded.
It was thought this would give Chiltern the edge for 10 minutes but the opposite happened; Chiltern switched off and Hendon pressed further into the Chiltern half.

Hendon never gave up and their strong team spirit got them another deserved try, the conversion was successful making the score 24-22.

With 10 minutes left it could have gone either way but Chiltern worked their way down the pitch well and Tom Smalley put in a lovely chip for Steve Scopes to catch under the posts and score his second of the day. The try was converted stretching the lead to 31-22.

From the resulting Hendon kick off Josh Davies put a great kick into the Hendon 22 and it bounced up perfectly for James Ashton who collected and scored Chiltern’s 6th try of the match to make the score 36-22. Conversion was missed

The score slightly flattered Chiltern in what was a closely fought game all the way through.

FT 36 - 22

It wasn’t the performance that Chiltern were looking for but it was their second win of pre season and sets them up well for next weeks first BBO2 league match of the season against Wallingford away.

Line up:
1 Lewis Godfrey 2 Adam Cook 3 Paddy Esson 4 Colm Gilhooly (c) 5 Dave Robertson (pl) 6 George Wallington-Smith 7 Elliot Turner 8 Michael Buckler 9 Jimmy Dye (vc) 10 Tom Smalley 11 Joe Stevens 12 Steve Scopes 13 Josh Davies 14 Tristan Lothian 15 Will Browne 16 Rory McFadyen 17 Gareth Crimp 18 James Ashton

Tries:
Steve Scopes x2, Tristan Lothian, Josh Davies, Tom Smalley, James Ashton

Conversions:
Will Browne x2
Josh Davies

Man of the Match:
Tom Smalley