On an overcast afternoon, with a view drops of rain in the air, it was Chobham who kicked off. Chichester were straight out of the traps pressuring their hosts and gaining territorial advantage. A switch, from Rory Minton, allowed Rhys Thompson to attack on the blind side before offloading to the supporting Luca Fleming who carried to the 5 metre line before being stopped. The forwards arrived in force and the ball was moved across the field with a series of pick and goes before the direction was reversed and Tyrese Makasi dived over the line between the posts. Converted by Minton. 0 - 7 after 6 minutes. Although dominant in the scrum, Chobham were struggling to cross the gain line with ball in hand but eventually reached the red zone after a couple of Blues’ infringements. Opting to scrum, rather than kick for the corner, they mauled to the line and were awarded a penalty try when it was stopped illegally and Chichester had a player sent to the sin bin. Converted. 7 - 7 with 18 minutes played. Unperturbed by the reduction in players, Blues restarted and from a lineout on the 10 metre line Zac Conley charged forward on the blind side and was deep into the red zone before the Chobham defence could stop him. The ball was recycled and 3 phases later Huw Binfield crossed the whitewash close to the posts. Converted by Minton. 7 - 14 after 20 minutes. For the next 10 minutes Chichester contained Chobham in the opposition half with an impressive defensive display, but as half time approached the opposition finally crossed the halfway line and the Blues’ scrum was penalised in quick succession and player sent to the sin bin. Once again Chichester raised their game and were rewarded with a Joel Andrews’ try 4 minutes later. After an infringement on the halfway line, Minton’s long range kick found touch at the 5 metre line and from the lineout the ball was passed across the pitch where Andrews burst through the Chobham defence to score. Conversion missed. 7 - 19. From the restart, the ball was passed out to Makasi who made 20 metres before progress was stopped 30 metres out. After several pick and goes, the ball was advanced to the try line by Andrews and Jo Amin. Jamie Kinninmont recycled it to the waiting Owen Tucker, with Joe Hunter on his shoulder, who punched through the defence to score. Converted by Minton on 40 minutes.
7 - 26 and a bonus point at half time despite Blues being a man down for nearly 20 minutes.
Chichester kicked off and, despite an animated half time talk from the Chobham coach, the hosts only managed to cross the halfway line once with ball in hand during the next 20 minutes, when their winger ran 70 metres, only to be tackled into touch on the try line by the covering Fleming. An unfortunate, accidental collision saw Blues lose a player to the sin bin on 62 minutes and from the penalty lineout Chobham mauled over to score. Converted. 14 - 26. The referee deemed that the maul had been bought down illegally and produced the yellow card, reducing Chichester to 13 players. However, the response was once again immediate! Having won a penalty, Minton found touch on the 5 metre line and from the lineout the pack mauled forward, the ball was spun out and Thompson’s decoy run opened up a gap for Andrews to score under the posts. Converted by Minton. 14 - 33 after 65 minutes. Blues’ 13 players hung on as Chobham probed the defensive line but finally after successive infringements 5 metres out the hosts mauled over. Conversion missed. 19 - 33. Chichester had returned to a full complement just before the try but then lost another player to the sin bin for the remainder of the match. In a frantic final 8 minutes, both teams had an opportunity to score again, but for great defensive work.
Full time and 19 - 33 and 5 valuable points in a most enthralling encounter. A shout out to 2nd XV and 3rd XV regulars George Knight and Paul Watts who stepped up for this game
Chichester squad: Knight, Binfield, Watts, Conley (capt.), Tucker, Babb, Hunter, Makasi, Kinninmont, Minton, Amin, Andrews, Fleming, Etherington, Thompson, Cameron, Whitehouse, and Swain.
Chichester’s next match is home to Bournemouth on the 1st of March. Kick off is at 14:30.