Rugby: Chinnor keep fans sweating

From the archive, first published Tuesday 25th Oct 2005.

HOME supporters' nerves were well and truly jangling as Chinnor secured a dramatic 22-19 victory over South West 1 promotion rivals Clifton.

Clifton had already knocked Chinnor out of the Powergen National Trophy with a late try and looked set to nick a league draw.

Fly half John Barnes had kicked immaculately and was sizing up an injury-time penalty from the ten-metre line with his side trailing 22-19.

To make matters worse, most fans thought referee Brian Ravenhill had blown for full-time two minutes earlier, but his long blast was merely to restart the game.

Maybe the pressure got to Barnes or maybe he misjudged the wind, but his kick was short and when Chinnor flanker Jon Brooks found touch it really was all over.

It would have been hard on Chinnor if the kick had made it after they shaded a game that felt more like a cup-tie.

As it was, the closeness of the scoreline and the intensity of play suggested these two teams could be vying for the title in April.

Chinnor had the ideal start with a sixth-minute try from full back Matt Buckley.

Centre Rewi Tolich broke a static Clifton line and fed scrum half Morgan Thompson whose pass gave Buckley room to power over.

Richard Williams missed the conversion, but added a simple penalty on ten minutes after the Clifton defence had moved up too fast.

The visitors started showing why they led the table beforehand, hitting back with a Barnes penalty.

He repeated the trick on 28 minutes later after more Chinnor indiscipline before Williams kicked his second.

An opportunistic Barnes drop goal narrowed the gap on 38 minutes and underlined the threat he posed throughout.

Clifton full back Rob Viol gave Williams another penalty by deliberately throwing the ball out and they went 19-9 ahead on 58 minutes.

Eddie Devine's thunderous tackle secured a turn-over in midfield and before Clifton could recover, Lloyd Hoogstander was scampering over in the corner after good work from Ed Rixon.

Williams kicked another penalty, but Clifton hit back with the try of the game.

Viol sprinted fully 70 yards from his own 22 and fed Tom Lambert to dive under the posts for Barnes to convert.

Ollie Sills, who moved from scrum half to right wing, gave Clifton hope with a dynamic run, but Barnes's late miss left them dejected and Chinnor elated.

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