CHINEHAM RFC’s perfect start to 2016 was ended as they lost at Fordingbridge 20-13 in Hampshire One.

The home side raced into a 20-0 lead by the break and firm words from head coach Johnny Berwick sparked life into the Chineham attack.

This resulted in Dougie Ireland converting a penalty five minutes into the second half and Chineham pressure finally told 10 minutes from time with a penalty try, which Ireland converted.

With two minutes to go the visitors elected to convert a penalty and were then unable to secure a game tying try.

The previous week, Chineham beat Locksheath 45-0 and took the lead from Gareth Kelly when he touched down from outside 22 after picking up the ball from broken play. Keegan Wicks followed up good Chineham phase work when he exploited an overlap to touch down on the far left corner.

Two more tries were added to Chineham’s score from Sam Goodall and Matt Lingham.

Kelly started the second half when he completed his brace with a quick tap penalty outside the 5 metre line, dotting down on the left side. Man of the Match Connor Ford rounded out his excellent performance when he finished a well-executed set play in the lineout by taking a brilliant offload from inside centre Goodall. The final score of the day came as Kelly executed a lovely two-on-one for blind side winger Will Rouse to score untouched on the far left hand corner.

Chineham are next in action on March 5 when they entertain Sandown and Shanklin.

In Hampshire Two, Overton won 24-0 at Nomads, while Kingsclere’s game was postponed.

In a fortnight's time Overton face Alresford and Kingsclere travel to Southampton.