Chinnor have all but secured their survival in National League Division Two South after they easily overcame Barnes 36-0 at the weekend.
Chinnor have spent much of the season languing in or around the bottom three but a recent upsurge in form, with six wins in seven, has taken them up to 10th, within two points of the top six.
It didn’t take long for Chinnor to assert their superiority against Barnes with the pack driving forward at every opportunity.
Fly-half Sam Angell kicked an early penalty deep into Barnes territory and from the resulting line-out and drive, Chinnor were awarded a scrum five metres out from which Angell squeezed through a gap to bulldoze over.
He converted his own try and counter-attacking runs by Vandermolen, Waddingham and Messum returned play into the Barnes’ half.
Several of these runs linked with the jinking Junior Fatialofa who broke through tackles and fast feeding along the line by Frank Jones then put winger Lamont away to score an unconverted try in the corner for a 12-0 lead.
Fatialofa and Lamont combined again to gain a 30 metre advantage for Chinnor with the supporting Tom Burns being adjudged held up on the try line.
Chinnor forwards were now dominating both tight and loose, particularly the scrums, giving plenty of time for Angell to chip the ball wide for Marcus Beer to gather and score Chinnor’s third try, converted by Angell, taking their lead to 19-0 at half-time.
Angell dictated the play in the second half with his deep kicks forcing Barnes to counter-attack from their own 22 metre area.
Chinnor’s defence dispossessed Barnes, providing full-back Goss with the opportunity to run unopposed to the line to score with Angell again slotting over the extras.
Barnes showed phases with good attacking moves but these were short lived due to the excellent tackling and defence by the back row led by man of the match Messum.
Chinnor then put the move of the match together with eight phases of driving mauls and quick handling along the three quarters until Lamont sped around the defence to score his second try in the corner.
Barnes’ frustration led to a fracas in which Chinnor hooker Phipps retaliated and was sent off for foul play.
Despite being down to 14 men, Chinnor still maintained the upper hand and finished in style when Goss drew the Barnes defence then did a switch pass with winger Heath who crashed over to score an unconverted try and give Chinnor a well-deserved 36-0 victory.
A win at home to bottom of the table Launceston this weekend will guarantee Chinnor’s survival.