CHIPPENHAM are still in position to secure a top-two finish in South West One East after downing hosts Oxford Harlequins 31-14 on Saturday.
Visiting captain Ryan Surry elected to play the first half into the wind and an efficient chase from Quins led to a successful penalty following a handling infringement by Chippenham before the hosts added a further penalty shot for a six-point lead..
The response saw Will Waddington return a clearance kick down the left wing with a sharp run, before offloading to Baci Wilson, who touched down under the posts.
Jacob Unwin continued his impressive try scoring form with a second Chippenham score but a third Oxford penalty, followed by a try, tied the scores at 14-14.
Gary Champion's try put Chippenham back in the lead and a third successful conversion from fly-half Dan Wainwright gave them a seven-point half-time lead.
Exploiting the wind in the second half, excellent performances from Wainwright and Waddington meant any sniff of useful Oxford territory was stifled through perfect touch-finders.
After 10 minutes of broken play, Wainwright landed a penalty and with 18 year old prop Josh Lever making good yardage on his senior debut, hooker Miles Davies went over for the bonus-point try, a Wainwright penalty adding the icing on the cake.
Royal Wootton Bassett picked up their second successive home five-point bonus win as bottom side Bicester were felled 30-7 at Ballards Ash.
A Bassett attack in the 10th minute saw Bicester penalised at the breakdown and full-back Robert Cooper slotted the penalty.
On the half-hour, an attacking lineout saw a number of Bassett attempts on the line, veteran prop Chris Rowland eventually getting the touchdown before Cooper's drop-goal extended the advantage.
A superb individual try from skipper Gavin Ougan added another before half-time but Bicester pulled a score back in an improved start to the second period.
A clever chip from scrum-half Tom Fieldsend allowed Bassett's pacy centre Fin Dewar to race over under the posts, Fieldsend converting.
With 10 minutes left, long-serving veteran number eight Tim Gallimore broke the defence to wrap up the bonus point, Fieldsend again adding the extras.
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