Oxford Saints 0 Chiltern Cheetahs 12 (h/t 0-12)
Chiltern travelled to Oxford on Sunday looking to get back on the winning trail after last weeks loss to Southend. Both sides were missing key players as Oxford were looking to reverse the 12 - 6 win by the Cheetahs 3 weeks ago. Chiltern's Abdul Lawal recovered his first of three Oxford fumbles on the Saint's first drive to give the Cheetahs good field position. Chilterns offence then picked up a couple of first downs with some good running by Luke Foster and Lawal to set up Deniz Karagulle's 1 Yard touchdown run, with the extra point no good (0 - 6).
It was Lawal again that set up Chilterns second score of the game, this time in the second quarter with his second fumble recovery. Karagulle's 5 yard touchdown pass to Owen Thomas, in his first game for the Cheetahs, increased the lead to 12 as again the extra point failed. Good defensive work by the cheetahs stopped Oxford from driving into scoring range with sacks being recorded by Alan Porter, Owen Thomas and Ian Panton on the final play of the half (0 - 12).
Oxford came out the stronger at the start of the second half, forcing the Cheetahs offence three and out and then started to move the ball down field until another fumble recovered by Lawal stopped their drive. Neither side came close to scoring again until the 4th quarter when again the good running attack by Chiltern's Luke Foster, Ian Panton and Khaled Miah moved the ball to the Oxford 2 yard line, only to be stopped by Oxford's defence on a 4th down attempt. Chiltern's defence kept Oxford away from the scoring zone and did not allow Oxford to complete any passing attempts for the whole game.
The win, Chiltern's 3rd of the season now puts them back into the Play-off frame with a 3 - 4 - 1 record as they finish their league fixtures next week, travelling to Essex to face the Spartans.