Wallingford 20, Witney 19

A strong second-half display earned Wallingford an unexpected victory in this scrappy South West 1 East derby at the Hithercroft.

A last-minute try and conversion gave Witney a losing bonus point, but Wallingford were more than a solitary point better than their below-par visitors.

With two weeks of cold weather having thawed to produce a mud bath, this was never going to be a free-flowing classic.

But Witney made far more errors than a tenacious Wallingford side, who outscored them three tries to one and tackled well throughout.

The start, however, was all Witney, who went ahead with a fourth-minute penalty from fly half Henry Lamb.

Much of the half comprised of regular fumbles, while Henry Lamb and his opposite number Oli Henderson missed touch with penalties.

As a result, centre Phil Kelly’s opening try for Wallingford was totally out of keeping with the match.

He latched on to Henderson’s chip and dummied past hapless full back Jake Thomas to motor in from his own half on 20 minutes.

Henderson, however, somehow missed the conversion from in front of the posts.

Witney lacked cutting edge, but had plenty of possession and territory.

They surprisingly passed up a kickable penalty before Henry Lamb slotted his second three-pointer following a yellow card for Wallingford captain Ian Jeffreys.

Scrum half Gareth Campbell looked Witney’s most dangerous player, but the visitors lacked fluency, with a mix-up between full back Jake Thomas and wing Lewis Collins summing up their display.

Henry Lamb’s good kicking form continued, however, as his third penalty made it 9-5 on the stroke of half-time.

He added a fourth for 12-5 on 45 minutes, but Witney were left to rue not going for goal on other occasions.

Wallingford inched their way back and started to edge the penalty count.

On 53 minutes, a quick tap saw prop Kris Blaszko force his way over on the right.

Five minutes later, wing Ralph Smith’s penalty gave the hosts a 13-12 lead.

Witney butchered two more chances, with wing James Monks twice the culprit, while prop Jamie Burke came close following a surging run.

A long clearance from the impressive Kelly penned Witney back and some disciplined driving slowly ground down the visitors’ defence.

Eventually the ball was moved wide, with stand-in fly half Henry Venners and Kelly setting up replacement Glenn Dearlove to score in the corner on 70 minutes.

Smith’s expert conversion from the touchline was to prove crucial.

Somehow referee Paul Baynes found eight minutes of stoppage time, with Witney creating an overlap for Monks to touch down.

Henry Lamb’s conversion was the final action.

Wallingford: Venners, Smith, Kelly, Collett, Holton, Henderson (Dearlove 45), Dawes, Blaszko, Matt Chapman, Layzell (P Wiltshire 78), D Jenkins, M Turner, M Wiltshire (Marris 76), Mike Chapman, Jeffreys (capt).

Witney: Thomas (Harper 60), Monks, Strutt, J Lamb (capt), L Collins, H Lamb, G Campbell, Burke, S Collins, Richens (Calley 65), Bennett, M Copperwheat, J Hicks, C Campbell, Matchett (MacBurnie 32-37 [blood] and 65).

Referee: P Baynes (Cambridge).

Man-of-the-match: Kelly.