A HEROIC late comeback was not enough for Redingensians Rams as they lost a barnstorming National Two South game against Chinnor 31-29 at the Old Bath Road ground on Saturday, writes Richard Ashton.

In front of a bumper crowd, the two promotion hopefuls threw everything at each other, with Rams falling just short as their hopes of a potential top-two finish suffered what may be a fatal blow.

And head coach Seb Reynolds was left with mixed feelings after the game, telling the Chronicle: "Chinnor are a very good side. They’ve got a lot of guys who’ve played up in the Championship and they have a lot of experience behind them. We knew that coming into the game. Fair play to them for the victory, they did very well.

"They’d really done their homework out of respect for us. They did a good job and you can’t take that away from them."

It was the Oxfordshire side who started superbly, dominating the early skirmishes before Jack Ramshaw gave them the lead after powering over from close range, Jonny Bentley converting.

Yet Rams hit back despite losing captain Robbie Stapley to a shoulder injury, and when wing Conor Corrigan broke down the left, his inside ball allowed hooker Ben Henderson to open the Rams account.

An entertaining opening quarter continued when visiting scrum half Mike Macdonald produced a moment of magic to reassert his side's dominance.

Taking a pass on the left wing, he chipped ahead and retrieved the ball before diving over, Bentley landing an excellent conversion from the touchline.

Tom Humberstone cut the deficit with a penalty and Rams had a chance to really establish themselves when Joe Hutchinson was sin-binned for a high tackle.

Yet some tremendous Chinnor defence kept Redingensians at bay, and when Phil Chesters intercepted a Jordan Souter pass, he raced clear for a converted score which gave the visitors a 21-8 half-time lead.

Rams hit back at the start of the second half, though, with the hugely impressive Connor Stapley burrowing over from close range following a period of sustained pressure.

Henry Lamont received a yellow card for a late tackle on Miles Lloyd in the build-up to the try, and after Humberstone converted, Rams seemed to have the momentum, trailing by just six points but with a numerical advantage.

However, Chinnor are an experienced side, and they turned the screw in ruthless fashion to score two unconverted tries in the following 10 minutes, Willie Ryan and Bentley crossing the whitewash.

Rams suffered a further blow when Henderson had to be withdrawn with an ankle injury, but as the support became more vocal, they unleashed a whirlwind assault in the last 10 minutes which nearly resulted in a famous victory.

Firstly, prop Matt Weller smashed his way over from close range in the 75th minute after Rams had repeatedly hammered away at the line, and shortly after more pressure concluded with replacement wing Jak Rossiter crossing out wide before dotting down under the posts. Humberstone converted both scores and the gap was just two as the game entered injury time.

Rams collected the restart cleanly and began to push their way up field, working their way through the phases impressively.

However, the Chinnor defence remained resolute enough to keep them from a drop-goal attempt, and disciplined enough not to concede a penalty, and they eventually won a turnover to finish a heart-pounding game.

Reynolds was gracious in defeat and admitted it may have been a question of experience which cost his side.

He confessed: "They dealt with the key moments earlier on in the game a little bit better. We came back at them well, and this is how the side is looking to develop. We’ve had a fast rise in this level and we want to be battling at the top.

"What you learn in these fixtures is that it swings on little moments."

The head coach was delighted with the way his side coped with adversity, though, battling to the end despite trailing and without the influential pair of Robbie Stapley and Henderson.

He said: "This game we all love is full of chaos, adversity, unpredictability, and that’s why people come out to watch it.

"Losing your captain and one of our key players was not great for us, but Jamie Guttridge came on and did a brilliant job and Tom Vooght stepping in as captain was amazing.

"Connor (Stapley) was also superb. He returned to the squad in the summer and he’s been absolutely brilliant. Full credit to him the way he’s come into the side and had such an impact. The Stapley brothers are a unique experience to watch."

He continued: "There’s two ways of looking at the end. We didn’t want to go 31-15 down, we’d rather have been 40 points up, but if we can create a side which doesn’t stop, and goes for 80 minutes, then that’s something we can be very pleased with.

"That’s what we’re looking to do. We’re not far off the top two at all."

Reynolds also paid tribute to the packed ground, saying: "The crowd were thoroughly entertained. It’s what we spoke about last week, that we want to play fantastic rugby and entertain the people, but we want to win whilst we’re doing it, so we’re a little bit disappointed.

"The last time it was this busy was the promotion game at National Three (in 2015) against Exmouth, and we’re very thankful to everyone for coming out and supporting these players. They stuck with the players for 80 minutes and were brilliant."

Things get no easier for Redingensians as they visit table-topping Cinderford this Saturday, but Reynolds is excited by the challenge.

He concluded: "We’re looking forward to it.

"Cinderford have improved like us during the season and they look very strong at the moment.

"I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Paul Morris and what he’s done at the club, and I’m really pleased how well they’re going, but we’re really looking forward to a good fixture."