CHINNOR head coach Matt Goode has given his side a positive half-term report.

Victory at home to Bournemouth on Saturday saw Chinnor reach the halfway point in National 2 South with eight wins and seven defeats from 15 matches.

Goode and fellow player Andrew Smith were appointed joint head coaches just weeks before the season after Craig Chalmers quit the club without leading them in a match.

This was hardly the ideal preparation for Chinnor, but Goode is happy with what has happened since.

“From where we started at the beginning of the season, to have won more than we have lost at halfway is good,” he said.

“I think we were over confident when we were four wins from four.

“We have only lost by small margins, so we could be in a better position.”

Chinnor did this against the backdrop of an injury crisis, but have been boosted by the imminent return of full back Henry Colver, prop Joe Pickett and centre Sam Stoop.

Reflecting on their 22-17 victory over a Bournemouth side coached by former Scotland flanker Budge Poutney, Goode said: “We were the better side and we played the better rugby.

“They disrupted everything. You could tell who their coach was. Budge Poutney was a real No 6.

“We took our foot off the gas and let them come back into it. When you do that, it is quite hard to get going again.

“We could have got all five points if we had got the ball away a couple of times, but I am happy enough with the four points.

“We didn’t finish off a couple of two-on-ones when we could have done.”