Chinnor 30, Dings Crusaders 30
RICHARD Williams's late penalty secured Chinnor a battling draw in a National 3 South match where their inconsistencies were all too evident.
The fly half's fifth successful kick from five punished a moment of indiscipline from Dings replacement John Edwards, who was sin-binned for his troubles.
But Chinnor can ill afford to give opponents a 15-0 head start as they did in a dire first 25 minutes at Kingsey Road.
The match began in a strangely low-key mood and Chinnor trailed before they had even crossed half-way.
Dings left winger Jon Coller created space in the centre and fed his No 14 Sylvain Edwards, who cantered round under the posts in the third minute.
Fly half Gareth Griffiths converted this, while only some determined defence stopped Dings crossing again.
Chinnor's error count continued and winger Jon Coller stretched Dings' lead with a 15th-minute penalty.
The normally reliable home pack were again shoved off their own scrum ball before centre Chris Wright-Hyder twisted his way through two tackles to dive over on 24 minutes.
Impressive Aussie centre Anthony Pyers gave Chinnor hope on the half-hour when he broke a tackle and burst through from the edge of the 22 to score.
Williams's conversion made it 15-7, but Griffiths hit back with a penalty.
Pyers was in the thick of the action again on 38 minutes, gaining some key yards before expertly off-loading for debutant prop Andrew Coady to score.
Williams converted this and a long-range penalty with the last kick of the half.
Chinnor resumed with a greater intensity and Williams's excellent chip saw Dings with a lineout five metres from their own line.
Home lock Matt Hutchins stole the throw and his second row partner Craig Burrows was driven over for an excellent try, Williams converting from wide on the left.
This should have been a chance for Chinnor to press home their advantage, but their decision-making needed to be sharper.
Instead Dings surged back on the hour-mark when flanker Neil Holder was driven over.
On 68 minutes, Sylvain Edwards reacted first to a chip-kick and ran in under the posts to give Coller an easy conversion.
There was still time for a second Chinnor comeback and Williams got the ball rolling with a 72-minute penalty.
Chinnor had more of the Pay late on, but it was deep into injury time when Williams levelled the game.
Chinnor: B Hewitt, R Grimsdell, Pyers, Oxley, Carter (Sutton 80), Williams, Burns, Iosefo, Phipps (Cawston 64), Coady (Matthews 64), Hutchins, Burrows, de Bruin, Rixon (Beets 76), Hennessy (capt).
Chinnor man-of-the-match: Hutchins.
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