Drybrook 13pts  Chipping Norton 16pts

Drybrook slipped to a disappointing loss in their first game of the season where they struggled to stamp their authority over an average visiting team.  It was in the forwards that Drybrook had the most problems and they were never able to provide the platform necessary to take the game to the visitors.  Chipping Norton on the other hand always tried to keep the ball alive and made the most of their scoring opportunities whereas Drybrook often got themselves into promising positions but wasted the ball through indiscipline.  It was not until the 25th minute that the deadlock was finally broken when Chipping Norton crashed over for a try following a forward surge.  It was fairly even for the rest of the first half with Aaron Ryder kicking a penalty for a Drybrook in the 35th minute only to see the visitors reply with a penalty immediately from the restart.

The visitors increased their lead with a second penalty early in the second half but Ryder kept Drybrook in the hunt with a long range penalty mid way through the half.  Drybrook’s concentration again let them down again from the restart when Norton forced a lineout in the corner and easily took the catch to drive over for a try.  At 16pts – 6pts down Drybrook were not out of it but they lacked urgency to their game and they had to wait until the dying minutes before they finally scored a try.  A good period of pressure was rewarded when winger Danny Price squeezed over in the corner but an illegal tackle led to the referee awarding a penalty try that Ryder easily converted.  With only a couple of minutes left Drybrook threw everything into attack but the visitors held out to claim their place in the second round draw.

Drybrook team: C. Rawlings, T. Chapman, S. Rugman, D. Griffiths, J. Roberts, A. Ryder, Carl. Moore, T. Reed(Capt), C. Thomas, S. Phelps, S. Ballinger, L. Jackson, Craig Moore, M. Perkins, N. Morgan.
Replacements ; D.Critchley, D. Price, I. Pritchard, L. Meek.