MATT Williams was delighted with Chinnor’s attacking prowess in their 38-31 victory over Sale – but knows there are still lessons to be learnt.

The Thame-based side produced a scintillating first-half display to lead 38-7 at the break.

A penalty try, as well as scores from Nick Selway (2), Jake Ashby, Chris Elder and Josh Hodson had been just reward for Chinnor’s dominance and offensive brilliance.

However, Sale came storming back in the second half, crossing four times, to close to within seven points with nine minutes to go.

It led to a nervy finish, but Chinnor held on to secure a bonus-point victory and extend their unbeaten run to three games in National League 1.

Director of rugby Williams said: “I think in my six years at Chinnor, the first 40 minutes was possibly the best half of rugby we’ve played.

“Our attack clicked, it worked, we scored some sublime tries and then in the second half we folded, we didn’t have the ball.

“The boys actually finished the game really well, they defended for their lives.

“But that was a crazy game, we should have put our foot on their throat at half-time and had a huge comfortable victory after dominating like we did.

“We didn’t and all credit to Sale, they came at us hard, they had nothing to lose at half-time and they threw the kitchen sink at us, but we didn’t deal with it.”

Williams added: “In the cold light of day, we’ve got five points and it is another important moment for us rolling forward, but what we’ve got to do is learn to attack and defend in the same game.

“Our defence has been really good for a few weeks, but it let us down after a sublime first half.”