South West 1 East

WITNEY could not hold off a fightback from second-placed Cheltenham, going down to a 20-16 defeat at the Prince of Wales Stadium.

The visitors dominated early on and took the lead when full back Ed Mitcham landed a penalty, having missed his opening attempt.

Cheltenham flanker Tim Acheson burst through some weak tackling for a try on 20 minutes.

Witney regained the lead when Lewis Collins set up Mitcham for their opening try, the latter converting.

Cheltenham defended well despite having scrum half Jason Graham yellow-carded and almost levelled before the break.

Witney wing Henry Lamb stopped wing Lee Douglas with a last-ditch tackle and flanker Carl Campbell’s interception snuffed out any further danger.

A minute into the second half, Cheltenham were level as Douglas outsprinted the visiting defence.

Mitcham’s second penalty restored Witney’s lead, but they then lost prop Jamie Burke to the sin bin.

Within minutes, Cheltenham utilised the man advantage with replacement prop Matt Francis scoring.

Mitcham slotted another penalty for 16-15, but full back Beren Delbrooke-Jones’s try won it for Cheltenham.