Chichester RFC come up just short at Bournemouth

Blues had Josh Cameron, Hayden Scott, Rupert Jameson and Lewis Crouch coming into the pack, James Scrivin-Wood and Rhys Thompson joining the backs and Harry Sharp and Ollie Evans on the bench.

On a sunny and warm afternoon, Blues kicked off and edged the first 12 minutes as Bournemouth struggled with their lineout and were penalised for a number of infringements.

A quick tap saw Rhys Thompson, Blues’ veteran full back, jink through the scrambling defence and get to the 5m line before being stopped. From the clearance, Thompson once again received the ball, cut through the defence and offloaded to Roy Davidson for a try out wide.

Chichester had a player sent to the sin bin and after sustained pressure the hosts crossed the whitewash and it was converted for them to lead 7-5.

Blues responded from the restart and within three minutes they were back in the lead after a delightful grubber kick down the touchline from Davidson bobbled as it crossed the try line and the chasing Ollie Evans, on as a replacement, grounded the ball to score, converted by Rory Minton – 7-12.

The lead was shortlived with Bournemouth winning a lineout on the 22m line which was passed out to a hard-charging centre who sliced through the Blues’ defence, the try converted.

Chichester dominated the final 13 minutes of the half with Bournemouth spending much of the time being pushed back deeper and deeper and Ethan Etherington was unlucky not to score after a 50m run from his own half.

Chichester were on the back foot straight from kick-off, conceding a penalty and then a try, converted for a 21-12 lead.

Blues stuck to their game plan and on 51 minutes, a Minton chip over the top was collected by the chasing Luca Fleming. The ball was recycled to Gareth Davies who chipped towards the corner where it was collected by Etherington who evaded two defenders for an offload to Evans for a try close to the posts, converted.

Bournemouth extended their lead with a converted try on 55 minutes. Chichester recovered the ball after great work at the breakdown from Owen Tucker, Davies chipped over the top for a 5m Bournemouth lineout.

Their clearance kick was taken by James Scrivin-Wood, passed to Mike Burton then on to Davies. Blues’ fly-half released Fleming and with support outside on the overlap Etherington dotted down for the bonus point try, converted by Minton to make it 28-26.

A breakaway by the scrum half saw Bournemouth extend their lead again with a converted try. Chichester upped the tempo and had their hosts pinned down defending the red zone but the defensive line held.

With five minutes left Bournemouth conceded a penalty 26m from goal which Minton slotted between the posts - 35-29, with Chichester needing a converted try to win.

Having won a scrum against the head in their own half it seemed Binfield was going to win the game for Blues with a breakaway try from halfway. However, the referee had spotted a Bournemouth knock-on and called it back for another scrum, rather than advantage.

Chichester had their final chance when the opposition conceded a penalty and were marched back 10m to the halfway line for backchat. Blues carried hard, getting to the red zone but the attack was undone by a misplaced pass. That meant two losing bonus points were Chi’s reward from the day.

With Rob Hennig and Tom Mahon departing for the Southern Hemisphere and several injuries, several Gladiators stepped up to the 1st XV for this game and all contributed to making this an entertaining game. MoM: Ollie Evans.

Also in Hampshire one, Bognor won 50-8 at Eastleigh. That leaves them second in the table, seven points behind leaders Portsmouth. Chi are eighth.

This Saturday, Chi host Eastleigh and Bognor are home to Gosport and Fareham.