Plymouth Albion climbed to the top of National League 1 after a 22-17 victory over Chinnor at Kingsey Road on Saturday.
Craig Duncan got us off to a fantastic start following a lovely switch from right to left, the stand-in winger flying over before Tom Putt’s conversion.
The hosts quickly found a response through James Bourton when the Centre drove over and converted his own try.
The first half took another turn around 20 minutes in when Jenson Boughton broke free to score, and Albion continued to mount pressure for an extended period thereafter.
Putt slotted a penalty through the posts to take Ryan Lamb’s side up to 15 points, and Duncan might have been in for a second down the left but for some excellent Chinnor defending.
The hosts pulled three points back in the last action of the opening half, Bourton slotting a penalty.
Albion spent a large chunk of the second half camped inside the Chinnor 22, winning scrum after scrum – a period within which the hosts had a player sent to the bin.
The Janners would eventually be awarded a penalty try from a collapsed maul, sending Chinnor down to 13.
There was plenty left in the tank for the Oxfordshire side though; Luke Carter scored off a fine kick through, leading to a tense finale.
Albion saw off the late threat though, taking four points that carried them above Rams and up to the top of the table.
Line-Ups:
Chinnor:
Matthew Woodward, Alun Walker, Rob Hardwick, George Merrick, Conor Brockschmidt, Alfie North, George Stokes, William Ryan (C), Luke Carter, Nick Smith, Kieran Goss, James Bourton, Morgan Passman, Josh Gillespie, Williams Feeney
Replacements: Mark Darlington, Josh McNulty, Ethan Clarke, Isaiah Wharton, George Worboys
Albion:
Ramaz Rukhadze, Harry Wilkinson, Jenson Boughton, Hallam Chapman, Dan Collier, Angus Hodges, Torin Clarke, Sam Daly, Jack Oulton (C), Phil Jones, Craig Duncan, Connor Eastgate, Archie Hill, Robin Wedlake, Tom Putt
Replacements: Gabe Mead, Dan Pullinger, Jake Bond, Jack Wickham, Morgan Stone
