Just 2 weeks after ending Chipping Nortons 2 season undefeated home record Wheatley were overcome with a Chipping Norton purple patch whilst defensive predator Sanda Mpanza was sin binned for an alleged high tackle.

Wheatley started well pinning the home side back into their own 22 after some great phase play with the forwards prominent in attack and the home team struggling to cope under pressure, Wheatley were unable to convert the pressure into points however letting Chippy off the hook and allowing them to settle into a rhythm of their own that in turn put Wheatley under pressure.

Wheatley conceded an un converted try on 10 minutes after sloppy defence allowed the home team to open the scoring out wide 5-0

Wheatley's response was positive immediately getting back into the home sides 22 and winning the penalty opting for the corner but confusion at the lineout allowed Chippy to clear their lines and some breathing space the subsequent throw in was more successful with the purple men able to truck the ball up the midfield and again be awarded for a their efforts with a penalty in front of the posts, Aaron Laman did the honours opening the scoring for Wheatley 5-3.

The pivotal moment in the game came on 30 minutes with the yellow card being awarded to Sanda Mpanza for what can only be described as a hard tackle that the ref presumably thought was too hard!

The preceding 10 minutes saw Chipping Norton run in 3 converted tries giving Wheatley a mountain to climb in the second half. half time 26-3

Wheatley re-grouped and re-assed the game plan adding more direct running with Chippy once again under the cosh both lineout and scrum were functioning like a well oiled machine with the visitors unlucky not to have been awarded several scrum penalties throughout the half. Wheatley were awarded for the effort however opting to kick for touch, just on the 22 Wheatley excited a superb driving maul that was likened to a vintage locomotive gathering pace and steam rising from the home team an their helpless efforts to stop the momentum in its tracks. Alex Gabbidon the beneficiary of the collective efforts. Laman adding the extras 26-10

Wheatley continued to persevere in attack and defence but were unable to convert pressure back into point some great debut performances from Jake Lewis who battled on despite receiving nasty cut above the eye following a stray boot in a ruck, and Aaron Ward who added urgency to the back line and with the ball in hand looked very dangerous.

Wheatley were dealt a further blow loosing influential scrum half Jack Taylor to a head injury after being on the end of the a high tackle that went unpunished as the official was united had he have seen the collision Chipping Norton would have been reduced to 14 men for at best 10 minutes.

Underbred Wheatley continued to apply pressure and caused the home team problems for the best part of the second half with some great individual effort throughout 1-18 Joe Taylor standing out with continued gain line breaks and Ruvern Weir adding inputus in the forwards, we also saw a kicking master class from Tam with a well placed grubber kick pinning Chippy back.

The final say went to chippy with a consolation unconverted try in the death of the game.

We won the second half but left ourselves a big challenge, on another day things would have gone our way and I believe that we could have climbed that mountain and come away with the win but it wasn't to be, we move on to the BBOP with drifters our next target.

Special thanks to the support crew Michale Ridge, Sean Brook, Daz and Clive for sorting all the other stuff out.