CHINNOR suffered a rare away defeat as Blackheath triumphed 25-15 in National League 1.

The sides were all-square at 10-10 at the break, but the hosts edged in front and eventually pulled clear to triumph.

It saw Chinnor drop to seventh in the third tier, with the gap to leaders Rosslyn Park now 21 points.

Richard Thorpe’s side started brightly and opened the scoring after 16 minutes, Kieran Goss going over near the right touchline to mark his 125th appearance with a try.

Caolan Ryan missed the conversion and Blackheath quickly responded, Jake Lloyd touching down and Jake Hennessey adding the conversion.

Chinnor continued to threaten and were soon back in front through Ben Manning’s unconverted try, although Hennessey slotted over a penalty just before the break to set up a tense second half.

Blackheath took the initiative after the restart and the same duo combined for their second try, Lloyd going over and Hennessey adding the extras.

Chinnor had to be alert to stay within seven points and got their reward when Fred Tuilagi crossed, with Ryan missing another tough conversion.

It was all to play for, only for Blackheath to expertly create space for Hennessey to go over for the bonus-point try.

He missed the conversion, but made up for it with a late penalty to secure victory.

Elsewhere, Henley Hawks avoided an upset in an entertaining 48-24 win over Westcliff.

The National League 2 South basement boys claimed a losing bonus point – only their second of the season – but Luke Allen’s side were too strong as they kept in touch with the summit.

Winger Reuben Norville helped himself to two tries, taking his tally to 12 for the season, while hooker Samson Adejimi also went over twice.

Alex Bradley, Marcus Lowe, Sam Lunnon and Alex Harmes also crossed, Monty Bradbury adding the conversions.

Oxford Quins were too good for Witney in their South West 1 East derby, the second-placed hosts running out 46-19 winners.

Leaders Banbury Bulls beat Frome 34-3 on the road, while Grove edged out Windsor 44-41 in a thrilling contest.

Wallingford came out on top in a Southern Counties North derby for the second straight weekend, overcoming Gosford All Blacks 28-12.

Bicester won 38-24 at High Wycombe.