Stortford set their stall out from the first dropout, going through phase after phase, eventually forcing a penalty, which Tom Banks comfortably slotted for a 3 point lead after 3 minutes. Unfortunately, the control previously shown was markedly lacking at the restart, when a knock-on from the attempted catch bounced straight to Chinnor’s wing, Luke Hibberd, who took full advantage to slice his way through the remaining defence for a try and an easy conversion for his flyhalf. Stortford bounced straight back onto the attack and added another 3 points through Banks, after Chinnor once again chose the damage-limitation option of conceding a penalty, rather than face more of Stortford's 15 man running rugby. The game then swung to and fro with little to choose between two highly-committed, attack-minded teams, until a rather harsh penalty was awarded on 28 minutes for a high tackle, as a Stortford player challenged a Chinnor player, falling to his knees. This took the home side into the Stortford 22., where they took full advantage, going through several phases of hard driving from their forwards, before moving it wide and a smart inside pass allowed a threequarter to crash over for a good try, that was easily converted. Stortford were undaunted and finally capitalised on some more good attacking rugby some 5 minutes later, when Jimmy Rea caught a hanging Sam Winter chip kick under severe pressure to touch down his side’s first try. Banks made an excellent conversion from out wide to narrow the deficit to a single point, which was how the half finished, with Stortford again camped in the Chinnor 22.

Play once again swung back and forth at the start of the second period, but Stortford eventually pushed into the home 22. Two penalties in quick succession went to touch and from the second, Chinnor were unable to stop a well driven maul, which saw Dec Caulfield touch down out wide for an unconverted try after 52 miinutes. Chinnor once again, though took no time in retaliating and three minutes later were back in the lead, after scrumhalf, Greg Goodfellow made one of of his characteristic snipes from the base of a scrum and a clever inside pass to Jonny Bentley allowed the flyhalf to run in for a converted try. Play once again swung Stortford’s way from the restart and eventually the ball found its way to Nic Clancey, on as a first half injury replacement for centre, Johnny Neville. He initially had the ball stripped in contact, but recovered very quickly to circle back, retrieve the loose ball and embark on a mazy run, with a combination of power and pace seeing him to the try line from halfway for a brilliant individual try. This gave Banks a relatively easy conversion to take his side into a 4 point lead. Unfortunately this was again short-lived, with Chinnor capitalising on another apparently harsh penalty for a deemed high tackle under the Stortford posts to get within a point. The home side once more surged onto the attack and another dart by Goodfellow led to a penalty after 73 minutes, which flyhalf, Bentley slotted nervelessly to establish a 2 point lead for his side. Stortford battled back once more and were unlucky that two testing kicks at goal both went narrowly wide. As time was running out, the home team launched yet another fierce assault on the Stortford line in the search for their 4th try and a bonus point, but the visitor’s defence held tight. When the ball was turned over via a home knock-on, Stortford refused to settle for the losing bonus point and ran out of their 22, briefly threatening a breakaway, winning score. Chinnor’s scramble defence, though was up to the challenge and halted the attack on half way. It is perhaps significant and a compliment to Stortford, that the home team, having won a turnover were happy to bring the match to a close by kicking to touch, rather than risking all for the chance of a potentially crucial 4 try bonus point.

This was a breathless encounter between two highly motivated and competitive sides, which could have gone either way right to the end. Stortford's losing bonus point leaves us 7 points clear of both OEs and Chinnor (the former ahead, based on the number of games won) with three games to go. Next week's home game against Redingensians now becomes the focus and, having been pushed all the way by the Reading outfit in early December - albeit with Tom Coleman, Johnny Neville and Sam Winter then missing - another top performamce will be needed.