It was the away side who made a blistering start, pouring into the Rams’ 22 before ex-Ealing hooker Alun Walker eventually barged over from close range, Tom Price making no mistake with the conversion.

Things began to settle down in the first quarter, but it was Chinnor who moved further in front with a score similar to their opener, the impressive Izzy Wharton this time the beneficiary for Price to make it 14-0.

Rams were given a boost when George Stokes was yellow carded for an unfortunate shot to Fraser Honey’s head, the hosts kicking to the corner before also smashing away at the Chinnor line.

The dam eventually broke as second row Dan Swain forced his way over on the right, Honey with a brilliant touchline conversion to cut the deficit to seven points.

The home side continued to build pressure as time wore on, but the half-time whistle sounded with Chinnor 14-7 to the good.

And it was Nick Easter’s men who fired the first shot in the second period, wining a scrum against the head on the hosts’ five-metre line before a long pass gave Morgan Passman the easiest of finishes.

However, that was as good as it got for Chinnor, Rams getting a foothold back in the contest when replacement Ollie Monye flung a long pass of his own to Axel Kalling-Smith, the Swedish international finishing well on the left.

A second quickfire score, started by a magnificent 60-metre break down the right from Jak Rossiter, ended with a delightful Honey chip being caught on the left for Kalling-Smith to double his tally.

The introduction of props Ant Marris and the incomparable James Baker further turned the screw, a couple of devastating scrums giving Rams field position before a penalty was kicked to the corner.

And a surging rolling maul was then illegally hauled down, James Bourton deemed the man to do so as he was sin-binned, Rams now in front 24-19 heading into the final 10 minutes.

The home side continued to have the better of territory as the clock ran down, putting a gloss on the scoreline with the final play.

And it was a trademark counter-attack score of the highest quality, Henry Bird fielding a clearance kick on halfway before inter-linking with man-of-the-match Kalling-Smith before the latter’s inside ball was taken by Monye to dive over in front of clubhouse corner.

Final Score: Rams 29-19 Chinnor

Half-time score: Rams 7-14 Chinnor

Scorers:

Rams:

Tries: Swain 31, Kalling-Smith 51, 56, Penalty Try 66, Monye 80.

Conversion: 32

Chinnor:

Tries: Walker 3, Wharton 20, Passman 45

Conversions: Price 4, 21, 46

Star Player: Axel Kalling-Smith (Rams)

Referee: Owen Taylor

Attendance: 836

Rams

(15-9, 18): Bird, Rossiter, Jones, Humberstone, Kalling-Smith, Honey, Cole; Harris, Hayman, Englezos, C Stapley, Swain, Hoyt, McRae, R Stapley ©

Substitutes: Marris, Baker, Atkins, Clow, Monye

Chinnor

(15-9, 1-8) Feeney, Smith, Passman, Bourton, Goss, Price, Carter; Lines, Walker, McNulty, Sherriff, Merrick, North, Stokes, Wharton.
Substitutes: Theobald-Thomas, Hardwick, Brockschmidt, Clementson, Browning