Eton Manor kicked off the New Year by recording a 31-14 win at home to Amersham & Chiltern on Saturday.

The two sides had played out a tightly-contested 19-19 draw earlier in the season but Manor ensured they did not record back-to-back London 1 North losses with a comfortable success.

Tries were scored by Jimmy Baber, Nick Horton, Brad Burrell and Ollie Waugh, while a penalty and four conversions from Cameron Dutch completed the scoring.

Amersham kicked off and had the better of the opening exchanges, keeping Manor pinned inside their own half. The early pressure eventually paid off as a pass out to the right found an unmarked winger who scored in the corner, and with the conversion added the visitors led 7-0.

Manor, though, hit back almost immediately from the kick off. Ben Bolton-Smith was wiped out by an Amersham player who was sent to the sin bin and from the resulting penalty Cameron Dutch stepped up to reduce the deficit.

That seemed to spring Manor into life and they were starting to become the dominant side in the half. Continuous pressure eventually told as Baber took the ball from Kirk Chettleburgh and raced over the line for Manor’s first try, which was converted by Dutch.

The hosts kicked off the second half and were immediately on the front foot and looking to add to their tally. After several waves of attacks were broken down, they finally got the try that saw them begin to pull away when Nick Horton took the ball and went over beneath the post. Dutch, again, added the extras.

Straight from the restart Manor were at it again and they soon had the game beyond all reasonable doubt. Jamie Millais gathered a loose ball after an Amersham mistake and laid off for Burrell who went over for Manor’s third and stretched the lead to 24-7.

Amersham didn’t give up and showed why these two sides were so close in their last game. The visitors broke away from a scrum and easily strolled over the line to take their tally to 14 for the afternoon.

Rather than letting it affect them though, Manor kicked on once more and saw the game out with a fourth and final try, which secured them a bonus point.

From a scrum, Waugh drove off the back line and, despite the best efforts of two defenders, he powered over, with Dutch’s kick making it four out of four conversions for him.

Both sides had further scoring opportunities but no more points were added, meaning Manor held out for a comfortable win and started the new decade with a success.

The win and bonus point sees them sit seventh in the table, while their next game sees them travel to Southend Saxons this Saturday, which gets going at 3pm.