CHINNOR opened up a 12-point gap over third-placed Redingensians as they beat the Berkshire club 31-29 away from home.

The visitors bounced back from their defeat to London Irish Wild Geese, with an impressive bonus-point victory in National League 2 South.

Chinnor took the lead after eight minutes when Jack Ramshaw powered over, Jonny Bentley converting.

The hosts reduced the arrears when Ben Henderson crossed for an unconverted try.

But Chinnor soon made it 14-5 when Mike McDonald went over on 13 minutes and Bentley added the extras.

The hosts kicked a penalty, but Phil Chesters then crossed for Chinnor, Bentley converting again to make it 21-8 at half-time.

The visitors lost McDonald to injury, forcing Henry Lamont to deputise at scrum half.

Chinnor withstood intense pressure, but the hosts finally scored.

Lamont was sin-binned after the try, leading to another reshuffle with the visitors already without a recognised scrum half.

But Chinnor responded with scores from Willie Ryan and Bentley to lead 31-15 with 15 minutes to go.

The Rams threw everything at their visitors and crossed twice to cut the gap to a point.

But Chinnor saw out the final few minutes to land victory.

Henley Hawks were denied a draw in the final few minutes when suffering a 20-15 defeat at home to Tonbridge Juddians.

The hosts made a strong start and took a 3-0 lead through a George Jackson penalty.

But Tonbridge took the lead when Fin Coxon-Smith crossed, Nathan Holmes converting.

It soon became 12-3 after Rory McHugh scampered over.

Hawks enjoyed their best spell after the break and George Primett scored, Jackson adding the extras.

And they went on to lead 15-12 when Matt Tibbatts forced his way over.

A Holmes penalty levelled the score for Tonbridge.

But just as a draw looked likely, the visitors secured victory with three minutes to go when Reece Conlon crashed over.