Chinnor see off Sedgley Park to earn promotion
GEORGE Oliver’s lastgasp try secured Chinnor promotion to National League One at the end of a superb contest with Sedgley Park.
The game fulfilled all expectations and it was nip and tuck with just minutes to go before Oliver rumbled over, much to the delight of the home fans.
National Two South side Chinnor had controlled much of the contest but Sedgley Park roared back before Ben Manning’s try re-asserted Chinnor’s authority and Oliver saw them over the line.
“We did our homework,” said a jubilant Chinnor director of rugby Matt Williams.
“In the first half we closed out their threats. In the second half Sedgley Park threw the kitchen sink at us and brought the game right back within a score.
“The score by Ben Manning put the game back in our favour. I thank all those involved over the year for our success. It’s been awesome.”
The opening pressure came from National Two North side Sedgley but they failed to capitalise on a couple of early chances.
Following a rolling maul Chinnor spun the ball to the right which put Bertie Hopkin over in the corner.
The game flowed as both sides appeared to be very determined to keep the ball in hand.
After 25 minutes Park’s lively fly-half Steve Collins scored a try which he also converted. Josh Barton then took a quick tap penalty and squeezed under the posts to give Jonny Bentley an easy conversion.
A penalty by Collins narrowed the score-line only for a reply by Bentley to keep the score-line running in Chinnor’s favour.
On the stroke of halftime Luke Hibberd intercepted a loose pass and went over which Bentley converted.
Early pressure by Chinnor in the second half resulted in Bentley kicking a penalty and Oliver grabbing his first try.
Sedgley Park then enjoyed a purple patch scoring two tries. Then Manning scored a try by running a superb line at pace to settle Chinnor nerves.
But Sedgley Park would not give in and Max Skofic crossed with Collins converting. This brought the score to 35-31 with four minutes remaining.
Some excellent game management saw Chinnor play out the remainder of the game in the Sedgley 22 and eventually resulted in a promotion-sealing try by Oliver.
Sedgley Park director of rugby Matt Bebbington said: “We are disappointed with the outcome but I could not be more proud of the players.
“The work ethic a has been first-class. Now we hope to go one better.”