Chobham won 32-20 at home to Guildford in Regional Two South Central.

Guildford looked the more emotionally charged side early on. Over the first two or three minutes Chobham fell off tackles, were generally passive in defence and allowed Guildford to get their tails up with early possession and territory.

Eventually some control was regained after a bout of kick tennis ended in a classy 50:22 from fly half Sam Davies. This gave Chobham their first lineout opportunity in the red zone, but Chobham's lineout was not at its slickest and Guildford managed to clear their lines and gain possession from the kick.

Guildford made easy metres deep into the Chobham half until a tackle by Dan Benton was penalised. Guildford fly half Joe Gwyther stepped up and nailed the penalty to deservedly put the visitors 3-0 up.

From the restart Chobham began to impose themselves through aggressive carrying and accurate work at the breakdown. Multiple penalties ensued, finally resulting in good lineout possession from which the Chobham forwards sent prop Josh Macco hurtling over the line for the first try of the afternoon. Davies was unable to convert, meaning the score was 5-3 to Chobham after 12 minutes.

In an attempt to prevent a certain Chobham try, Guildford’s skipper himself received his marching orders for stopping the ball on the floor. Chobham chose to scrum and great control from the pack saw a pushover try scored by the returning Harrison Jones. Davies slotted the extras to take the score to 12-3.

Chobham then switched off, letting Guildford back into the game through ill-discipline and sloppy defence. At a seemingly unthreatening breakdown, Guildford scrum half Will Craven strolled under the posts for a try converted by Gwyther to make it 12-10.

Guildford coughed up the ball in contact and after a powerful Sam Goddard carry, slick handling across the backline put Danny Watson to within inches of the tryline. With the Guildford defence backpedalling in desperation, the ball was recycled and prop Gus Hargan nonchalantly strode under the posts for a try converted by Davies. Half-time arrived with the scoreline 19-10 to Chobham.

Guildford kept coming and forced Chobham into giving away an offside penalty in midfield. Gwyther made no mistake and made it 19-13.

This seemed to galvanise Chobham, who battered the Guildford defence for the next ten minutes with scrum after scrum ending in penalty after penalty. Eventually, a perfectly-executed move from a scrum sent Tommy Reed through a huge gap in midfield. When he was brought down a metre short of the line, quick recycling and great hands from Jones, Williams and Davies put skipper Guy Mawhood over for the bonus-point try. Davies added the extras to extend Chobham's lead to 26-13.

Goddard and Dan Benton received yellow cards as Chobham were reduced to 13. Chobham allowed Gwyther to dart over the line, and Gwyther calmly added the extras to make it 26-20.

Still playing with 13, Chobham won a penalty. Davies stepped up and took the three points to make it 29-20.

Guildford second row Jamie Curtis came flying in off his feet and received a red card for a shoulder to the head incident. Another penalty against Guildford for a high tackle allowed Davies the opportunity to close the game out with another three points.

By Jonathan Williamson