CHINNOR opened their South West 1 season with a narrow 23-21 win at Basingstoke on Saturday.

Basingstoke, who were relegated from National League Division 3 South last year, were quickly into their stride and opened up a 15-0 lead with two tries, one converted, and a penalty.

Chinnor began to play with more composure and from a quickly-taken penalty, a speculative kick ahead by Joe Winpenny saw the ball bounce kindly for the speedy Lloyd Hoogstander to gather and touch down.

Richard Williams's conversion, and then a penalty awarded when Hoogstander was tackled without the ball, put Chinnor within striking distance at half-time.

It was a role reversal in the second half with Chinnor taking the game to the opposition and going ahead with two Williams penalties.

The visitors were now dominating and made it 23 points without reply when a driving maul led to Winpenny going over for Williams to convert.

However, the game turned again when an attempted kick to the corner by Williams was charged down. It led to a penalty which was followed by a try in the corner to make it all square with 15 minutes left.

Basingstoke were then penalised for throwing a punch, and Williams kicked a long penalty to put Chinnor ahead once more, and they held to the final whistle.