Western Counties North

Cirencester 16

Chosen Hill Former Pupils 26

CIRENCESTER gave title-chasing Chosen Hill Former Pupils a tough test in a nail-biter of a game.

Having closed the deficit to 16-21 as the clock ran down, The Whiteway men put in phase after phase to try and snatch the win but from a spilt ball, Chosen Hill countered through a tiring home defence to make the final score 16-26.

The game was less than two minutes old when from a solid scrum, the impressive Alex Hammond worked a blind side move which resulted in powerful wing James Isaacs crossing for a try, with Adam Barker kicking the extras.

Chosen Hill rallied with wave after wave of attacks, causing the Cirencester defence to work overtime – and they impressively withstood the challenge.

The game was nip and tuck with the home side showing great desire and skill to shackle the pacy Hill men. The away side did eventually cross to tie the scores at half-time.

The youthful Whiteway half backs James Firth and Ollie Newman both showed great maturity in controlling the game for the home side in the second half, but they could not stop CHFP crashing over to lead 7-14.

Ciren hit back with Barker kicking two penalties to get within a point. The Gloucester side came back with a try of their own and the successful conversion made the score 13-21.

The ‘Red and Blacks’ would not give up with the front row of Aaron Lockitt, Keith Dickinson and Darren Stephens putting in a real shift for the team.

Another penalty closed the gap to five points before Hill completed the scoring with their final cruel try.

Cirencester's 2nd XV travelled to play Stow on the Wold 2s and drew 10-10.