Chinnor 12, Taunton 41

Chinnor were left stunned by Taunton’s superb second-half display as they slipped further off the title pace in National 3 South West.

Having led 12-0 at the break, they conceded straight after the re-start and the visitors never looked back.

It is too early to write off Chinnor’s hopes of an immediate return to the fourth tier of English rugby, but they cannot afford another 40-minute horror show like this.

Chinnor have been unlucky with a series of injuries in their opening matches, which meant veteran prop Simon Matthews made another comeback on the bench.

However, on Saturday Taunton showed them the level of play needed to win this division.

The hosts did at least compete well in the set-piece throughout this clash played in hot conditions.

And it was from a stolen line-out ball that Chinnor’s opening try came on nine minutes.

The ball was spun inside where strong breaks from centres James Hewitt and Richard Williams laid the foundations for flanker Adam Hastings to crash over.

Hewitt converted this and kept Taunton at bay with some long clearances.

Things got even better for the home side on 21 minutes when visiting centre Sam Saunders fumbled a pass on halfway.

Chinnor full back Alex Wallace hacked forward and wing Pip Seymour, their standout player, raced clear to touch down.

Seymour’s surge up the right almost yielded a third try, but his off-load to lock Liam Gibson went forward.

Taunton had struggled to get out of their half, and but for three missed kicks from Hewitt could have been further behind at the break.

A sloppy start to the second period saw Chinnor spill the kick-off and before they knew it Taunton prop Alec Chase had driven over in the corner.

The visitors suddenly had momentum and it was 12-12 on 49 minutes when wing Charlie Walker-Blair burst through some soft tackling and Saunders converted his try.

For ten minutes Chinnor had parity, but they capitulated in the final quarter.

Saunders’s penalty gave Taunton a narrow 15-12 lead before flanker Jake Childs forced his way over after a blind-side break.

Saunders converted from the touchline, while Seymour’s runs were Chinnor’s only attacking threat.

Walker-Blair cut inside for a 71st-minute try, which Saunders converted for 29-12 and Chinnor had no way back.

A comfortable win for Taunton became a rout thanks to two late scores.

Chase notched his second following a rolling maul on the left and Saunders converted.

A swift counter-attack wrapped up the scoring for Taunton, with Saunders powering over from an angled run to make it 41-12.

Chinnor: Wallace, Serrano, R Williams (capt), J Hewitt, Seymour, Chase, Jarvis (Cathcart 64), Winpenny, Cawston, Pickett (Matthews 72), Gilbert (Jackman 52), Black, Jones, Hastings, Mowbray.

Referee: C Bartlett (Dorset).

Chinnor man-of-the-match: Seymour.