Chinnor set out - as had Dorking last week - to put Stortford under early pressure in this match, sponsored by active Club supporters, Handelsbanken. Indeed, the visitors did, initially put the home defence under some stress - but stress to which good defensive organisation and tremendous individual commitment in numerous tackles provided a firm answer. So it was that, after penalties had swung to and fro at successive scrums, the home side got the decisive first score after 9 minutes, when Hamish Irving touched down from the back of a strong driving maul after a second 5 metre lineout in succession. George Cullen's excellent conversion from out wide maintained the momentum, which Stortford hardly lost for the rest of the half. The team kicked on from there to produce some tremendous handling from both backs and forwards, which produced two further tries before the break.The first fell after 21 minutes to poacher-in-chief, Baxter Wilson, who to be fair had been covering acres of ground both in defence and attack and, on this occasion, popped up on the right wing to round off some excellent interplay involving both backs and forward, after Johnny Neville had made the first break with Nick Hankin in close support to give the number 8 a sight of the line. Cullen's conversion attempt this time went wide, but he was more successful in converting his own try some 15 minutes later, off a smart inside pass from that man Neville again, after the 13 had made a searing break from a well-judged short pass from Pier Dotta. A couple of other good scoring opportunities for the home side had gone begging, as they made other good incursions into Chinnor territory with some first class handling, but crucial errors and some key decisions by the officials prevented further Stortford scores in the first half. Instead, it was the visitors who, after a brief burst of impressive rugby on their own part, produced an unconverted try after 25 minutes for flanker, George Messum, one of 2 Oxford University captains making their first starts for Chinnor today. Stortford finished the half on top, after a great outside break down the wing by Hankin took him almost to the tryline, but settled for 3 points from Cullen's boot right at the death, when Chinnor were penalised for offside.

Chinnor again started the second period strongly and soon had a lineout 5 metres from the Stortford line after winning a penalty for offside in midfield. The home side.defended the attempted driving maul well, though and seemed to have escaped when winning one of the few scrums, which had not resulted in a penalty to one side or the other. Unfortunately, though two subsequent scrums reverted to pattern, with the penalty decisions both going Chinnor's way, the second giving flyhalf, Bertie Hopkin an easy three points 11 minutes into the half. It took barely a minte, however, for Stortford to regain the initiative, when they capitalised on a penalty at a breakdown straight from the restart to kick for touch for a 5 metre lineout. Good teamwork from the throw set up a maul, which was driving remorselessly for the Chinnor line, when it was pulled down only inches short. The referee didn't hesitate to award a penalty try and to yellow card the culprit, Joe Vandermolen. Cullen's routine conversion took his side out to a 29-8 lead, effectively snuffing out any remaining hopes the visitors might have been cherishing of taking something from the game. Both sides emptied their benches over the next 10 minutes or so and the resultant dislocations undoubtedly contributed towards a decline in the standard of rugby, as play from both sides became rather scrappy, with matters not helped by both sides taking advantage of some seemingly fairly liberal interpretations of the offside laws. It was no surprise, therefore, that the final score of the game resulted from a mistake, as a clumsy knock-on by a Chinnor centre,, as they tried to run out of their own half, allowed Pier Dotta to seize on the loose ball and sprint in under the posts without a hand being laid on him. The flyhalf converted his own try after 79 minutes to close out the game at 36-8. There was just enough time left, though for Stortford to launch one last assault on the Chinnor line and Steve Ball looked unlucky to have a try disallowed, as he stretched past a final tackle to reach the line, but was deemed to have knocked on. The ball did bounce suspiciously, but it's hard to imagine how it could have lept so high from such a low dive without some downward force having been applied. The referee was perfectly placed to see and he adjudged the ball to have been lost - after consulting with his assistant, positioned some 50 yards away on the far touchline.

The Man of the Match bubbly, provided today by GQ Wealth management was presented after the game to Johnny Neville, for an outstanding all-round performance, which saw the centre getting back towards his best after his injury travails of last season.

The buzzing atmosphere in the Clubhouse after the match was further boosted by the return of the Blues, after their hard-fought win against Cambridge seconds who, themselves having been let down by London Irish (as we were by Chinnor), were able to put out a pretty strong side - despite having failed to fulfill this fixture, when scheduled alongside the firsts two weeks ago.