Chinnor captain Matt Hutchings feels the pressure is off his side as they seek to stay in the National 3 South West promotion hunt.

Hutchings’s men, who won the title in 2006 and 2008, lie fourth ahead of Saturday’s crunch trip to second-placed Bournemouth.

Victory would really put Chinnor in the picture, especially with the top three set to take points off each other.

But Hutchings stressed: “We are not really looking at a league position, we are just trying to play the best rugby we can.

“There is no pressure on where we are going to finish.

“Once you do that, you make it quite difficult for yourselves.

“Bournemouth are going great guns, but we have beaten them at home. It is going to be a big game for us this week.

“The key is to win every game at home and see what we can do away.

“We have been disappointed with our away form.

“Old Patesians are very, very strong, as are Bournemouth and Hartpury College are looking like they will win the league.”

Chinnor’s victory over Barnstaple on Saturday ended a run of three straight defeats, but Hutchings didn’t feel they had been playing too badly.

He said: “We deserved to lose to Old Patesians, but should really have beaten Exmouth and Redingensians.

“The standard has got so much better in this league. It is full of really competitive teams.

“In the past, if we had played like we have this season, we would have been challenging at the top.”

One thing in Chinnor’s favour, Hutchings believes, is their squad depth – evidenced by flanker Ed Vickers’s man-of-the-match display on his first start last Saturday.

“We now have three or four players competing for every position,” said Hutchings.

“The second team showed their strength by only losing 10-8 to Henley on Saturday.

“I think it bodes well for where we want to go.

“Before we have had to rely on a few foreign players, but that is not the case now.

“If there are players who are injured or unavailable, there is always someone to come in.

“It shows our strength.”

JUNIOR SCORERS

Under 16: Banbury 20 (tries B Margieson, L Alderman, J Walton, M Fox), Kenilworth 24.

Under 14 – Oxfordshire Cup 1st round: Chipping Norton 5, Oxford Harlequins 7 (try R Van Raalte; con Van Raalte).

Under 13 – Oxfordshire Cup quarter-final: Banbury 32 (W Hopkins 2, A Bruce, W Bradbury, A Taylor, C Malloc; con J Taylor), Oxford 0. Friendly: High Wycombe 7, Banbury B 12 (tries J Gillett, C Wheeler; con L Catania).

Under 12: Banbury 19 (tries F Clarke 2, J Manning; cons M Catania 2), Old North-amptonians 14; Banbury 42 (tries J Manning 2, M Catania, I Gaston, J Gaston, C O'Shea, M Swann; cons Catania 6), Grove 0.

Under 11: Banbury B 10 (tries J Woods, T MacDonald), Grove 0; Banbury A 5 (try J Price), Old Northamptonians A 0; Banbury A 10 (tries O Poole 2), Old Northamptonians B 30; Banbury 25 (tries O Poole 2, T MacDonald, O Morgan, M de Havilland), Grove 0.