Promotion tilt on as Staines stun league leaders

The result means Staines are just a point behind new leaders Tring, with Chingford having dropped to third.

Both sides made nervous starts, but it was Staines who made the first breakthrough.

A speculative kick into Chingford's 22 bounced kindly for fly-half Andy Regan to score out wide, with full-back James Cornish's conversion making it 7-0.

The match ebbed and flowed in the first half, but Staines's front five gained the ascendancy in both the scrum and line-out.

Cornish kicked a 30m penalty to make it 10-0, but Staines lost number six Luciano Silvera to injury after 25 minutes.

He was replaced by Brian Sibthorpe, back at Staines after five years playing National League rugby with Launceston.

Staines finished the first half with style and intent, scoring their second try, they attacked Chingford in their own 22, bringing their backs into play, a slightly off target pass to Andy Turner, coming into the line off his wing, caused him to spin off his marker, wrong-footing the Chingford defence, enabling him to slip a scoring pass to his brother and centre Jon Turner who exploited the gap.

Staines went into the break 15-0 in front, with all still to play for in the second half.

A determined and well-coached Staines side had a game plan designed to win this game, which they put into full effect in the second half.

Their forwards were now dominant, with the outstanding second row forwards Tom Cleary and Junior Harrison, disrupting the Chingford lineout and blocking any attempted driving maul.

Prop Leonard Liebenburg was also enjoying a standout game, calling all the shots in the set piece and prominent in the loose.

Such was their supremacy that they were able to control play, sucking the Chingford fringe players into the web, content in the fact that Chingford now had to force the game to win it and would inevitably make mistakes.

The only danger presented by Chingford was the speed and guile of their broken field runners, who were always a threat and Staines needed to be sharp-witted to contain them.

The Staines advantage came under severe examination when they were reduced to 14 men through injury to fullback James Cornish and flanker Jamie Sanders, but they regrouped, made the necessary positional changes - including switching their mercurial scrum-half Richard Scott to fullback - and steeled themselves for the final 20 minutes.

By this time, the score had been reduced to 15-3 after a successful penalty award to the visitors.

However, their revival was to be short lived, when Staines hit back immediately with their third try.

Jon Turner, who a few minutes earlier had made a try-saving tackle by the Staines corner flag, suddenly found himself up the other end of the field, as part of a Staines backline harrying their opposite numbers who were in possession and attempting to break out of their own half.

The move broke down and Turner was on the ball in a flash, handing off the last defensive player to score a match-breaking try and probably claiming the man-of-the-match reward from several other outstanding performances.

Staines continued to attack, with several forceful runs from wings Mikey Wilmot and Andy Turner, together with forays by replacement fullback Scott, going close.

It was Chingford, however, who scored next, with a converted try, stretching the depleted defence of 14-man Staines, running in unopposed from the halfway line to make it 20-10, with 10 minutes to play.

Again, the seven-man Staines pack knuckled down to the task, determined not to let Chingford back into the game.

Tom Cleary, their second row, capped a fine performance by breaking down the blindside from the halfway line.

Hugging the touchline, he shrugged off two defenders, remained on his feet and slipped an inside pass to hooker Stefaan Myburgh to score the final try and continue his formidable try scoring record for the season.

Staines host Birkenhead Park from National North One in the quarter-finals of the EDF Intermediate Cup on Saturday (2pm).