FUNGAI Mutepfa hailed the ‘Reading Abbey spirit’ after his side scored 24 unanswered points to beat Chippenham 45-31 in a South West One East barnstormer, writes Richard Ashton.

The Rose Hill side were staring relegation in the face as they trailed 31-21 with about 20 minutes remaining, but led by the outstanding Will Woodward (pictured below), they hauled themselves off the canvas to complete a tremendous bonus-point victory that lifts them to 11th in an increasingly tight scrap for survival.

Head coach Mutepfa told the Chronicle: “We showed the Abbey spirit of refusing to lose. You can lose to a side, but as long as you’ve given everything then you can’t complain. It was pure guts.

“The last home game (a 21-11 defeat to Windsor) was disappointing for everyone, so to win like this – going in front and then coming from behind – will please people. We had to perform and get the win.”

Things began well for Abbey on a glorious day – albeit with an extremely strong wind blowing towards the clubhouse – and they took an early lead courtesy of an Olly Walton penalty.

They moved further in front when Woodward – making ground every time he carried the ball – picked up at the base of a retreating scrum and showed his power to off-load to Walton, who finished well from 20 metres on the right-hand side. The wing added a superb conversion to make it 10-0 to the hosts.

Chippenham hit back and registered their first score when prop Luke Corbett barrelled over, Dom Riccio adding the extras.

Abbey grabbed a second try in extraordinary circumstances, Walton’s penalty shot at goal holding up in the wind, only for fly half Ben Mitchell to react quicker than the dawdling visitors’ defence to claim the ball and touch down. Walton converted to put his side 17-7 up.

However, the away side hit back in what was becoming an increasingly entertaining game, skipper Ryan Surry going over for a converted score before his side took the lead with the last play of the half, the captain taking advantage of some slack defending to bag his second in rapid order. Riccio missed the conversion but Chippenham led 19-17.

Chippenham secured their bonus point early in the second half when wing Bradley Doggett crossed for a converted score, but the irrepressible Woodward then made a 60-metre burst before an outrageous back-of-the-hand off-load kept the play alive just short of the try line. A couple of phases later and captain Sam Hallett powered over, Walton’s conversion cutting the gap to 26-24.

Things looked grim for Abbey when their under-pressure scrum led to hooker Mark Toland being sin-binned, and his opposite man John Turner then scored Chippenham’s fifth try to make it 31-24.

Yet what followed was extraordinary, as even with the numerical disadvantage, they levelled within three minutes when Mitchell set up Walton to score, the wing slotting the extras.

Walton missed a long-range penalty attempt, but Chippenham could not escape their half and Abbey went in front with four minutes remaining when Ed House powered over, with Walton again successful with the kick.

Mitchell added a sixth try for the hosts in injury-time, with Walton taking his individual tally to 25 points by landing the conversion to finally settle the nerves at the end of a pulsating game.

Mutepfa admitted: “They’re a good side and it was a tough afternoon, we had to dig deep.

“We changed the way we wanted to play and ran the ball a bit more, especially in the first half when we had a massive wind against us. It was a good day of rugby.

“Woody was outstanding for us, a big player in a big game. There were a lot of players who stood up for us.

“The back row, young Jack Saunders who came on. We were asked questions and we answered them pretty well.

“Sam (Hallett) did a lot of work today. He scored a try and did a lot of tidying up and winning ball. It was a good game for everybody.”

Reading Abbey are level on points with Chippenham and one clear of second-bottom Windsor, and travel to Grove this Saturday (3pm).

They end the season with a home game against leaders Maidenhead and a trip to third-placed Newbury.

And Mutepfa (pictured above) said: “It’s a game at a time. If we can learn a lesson from this, it’s when you’re in a relegation fight, you have to play for 80 minutes – 75 minutes is not enough, 79 minutes is not enough, you’ve got to play for whatever the referee makes you play.

“We’ve got three games left and we have to give everything. If we play like we did – with passion and aggression – we’ll back ourselves.”