A poor second half cost Oxford Harlequins dearly at Chippenham on Saturday as they went down to a 32-10 defeat.
Oxford dominated the first 10 minutes but then Chippenham won a penalty on their first foray into the Quins' 22, which they converted to take a 3-0 lead. Quins hit back straight away with fly half Andy Noyce flipping the ball inside to centre Martin Nutt who broke through a gap and sprinted clear before passing back to the supporting Noyce, who found scrum half Jack Cousens who was on hand to feed flanker Sione Viamounga to score in the corner.
Nutt converted the try to put Quins 7-3 ahead, but the hosts retook the lead when they broke onto a loose ball to score under the posts and make it 10-7. Substitute Joey Todd, on for the injured Harry Warman, struck a penalty to level the scores as the sides went in at the break all square.
But Oxford failed to turn up for the second half, with the home side scored two quick unanswered tries. Quins replacement flanker Raman Farahani was only on the field for five minutes before he saw yellow for killing the ball, and the Wiltshire side went on to score two more tries and run out comfortable winners.
Quins, who lie third bottom of National League 3 South West, face high-flying Redingensians at home on Saturday.
