OXFORD Quins knocked out holders Chinnor Falcons to reach the semi-finals of the Oxfordshire RFU County Cup.

The away side won a thrilling contest 28-24 at Kingsey Road.

A Werner Nell penalty and Diogo Pina’s try put Chinnor’s 2nd XV into an 8-0 lead after 15 minutes, before Andrew Jarvis peeled off a driving maul to touch down for Quins.

Paul Armengaud added the extras as they closed to within a point.

The hosts kept the scoreboard ticking over with two further Nell penalties but despite having Archie van Dijk in the sin-bin, Quins finished the half stronger and Armengaud converted Johnnie Henderson’s try to make it 14-14 at the break.

They then took the lead for the first time on 51 minutes.

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Running it from their own 10m line, Quins chased their own kick down the pitch and charged down an attempted clearance, resulting in Matt Marenghi touching down.

Armengaud added the extras to make it 21-14.

Another Nell penalty kept Chinnor in the contest, but the visitors closed in on victory when Armengaud converted his own try for an 11-point lead with eight minutes to play.

The home side refused to give in and Will Cadden drove over – Nell converting – but there wasn’t enough time left for them to deny Quins.

Last week, Chinnor confirmed the club had accepted the resignation of Richard Thorpe as director of rugby.

Thorpe joined Chinnor in May 2020.