How we went through the mill in this one! However, this is certainly a game that in previous seasons we would have lost and it was to our boys' great credit that they kept going, never gave up, and came away with a deserved victory as a result.

A nervous opening 15 minutes by both sides saw Banbury dominate territorially but without threatening the Chinnor line. A string of penalties gave Chinnor numerous opportunities to relieve the pressure but poor decision making resulted in Banbury having the opportunity to come back time and time again and their growing superiority was finally rewarded with three points following a successful kick at the posts. Half time could not come quickly enough for Chinnor, and an increasingly disjointed and uncharacteristically error strewn half ended 13-0 to Banbury, who scoring two unconverted tries.

Fortunately it was a different Chinnor team that resumed the second half. This time Chinnor dominated territorially but despite the mounting pressure it took 15 minutes for the first try to arrive, with Nic Barker touching down in the corner after an arcing run. However, it was Banbury who struck next with a try of their won in the corner, after a lucky break and against the run of play. As the game entered the final minutes Max Judge received the ball deep inside his own half after the Chinnor forwards won a ruck (for once!) and set off on a mazy run through a tiring and dazzled Banbury defence and touched down under the posts. George Grose added the conversion. With their tails up now, and sensing that a comeback was on the cards, Chinnor took the ball straight from the kick off, spun the ball to Nic Barker on the left wing, and Nic did what he does best and ran straight down the flank, leaving defenders sprawling in his wake, before angling in to touch down under the posts. 18-17, but with virtually the last kick of the game George held his nerve and sent the kick between the posts to move us into an 18-19 lead.

Not our best performance, but in the league a win is a win. Plenty to work on, particularly penalties and line-outs, but overall a satisfactory start to the competitive season.