Chiltern Cheetahs 6 Southend Sabres 16 (h/t 6-8)
A closely fought match was played on Sunday at Amersham & Chiltern Rugby Club as the Cheetahs entertained the Sabres from Southend.
Chiltern kicked off and some good running by the Sabres offence on their first drive nearly opened the scoring, but they failed to convert a 4th down in the scoring zone. Chiltern's offence were slow in getting going as both sides pushed for the opening score which finally came in the 2nd quarter, with Sabres running back James Thomas scoring on a 1 yard run. Thomas then ran in the extra point (0 - 8).
With 1:44 left in the half Chiltern's Deniz Karagulle completed a short pass to Quantez Scroggins who ran 35 yards for the Touchdown. The same pair combined on the extra point attempt, but Scroggins was tackled before the end zone, leaving the Sabres with a 2 point advantage at the half (6 - 8).
The 3rd quarter was controlled by both team Defences as neither side came close to scoring. It looked the same in the 4th quarter but with both teams turning over the ball. Chiltern's Nick Michael picked off a James Dawson pass only for Sabres Lee Walsh to intercep Karagulle on the next play.
Sabres Justin Moreton picked off another Karagulle pass with less than 2 minutes left in the game and returned it deep into Cheetahs territory. 3 plays later Thomas scored again, this time from 2 yards out, and then ran in the extra point to give the Sabres their third win of the season.
Chiltern must now win their remaining 2 fixtures, both away, to stand any chance of reaching the play-off's. The first of these games is this Sunday at Oxford Saints and the season then finishes with a trip to Basildon to face Essex Spartans on 7th July.