Chichester run title hopefuls Bournemouth close

When the teams met back in November Bournemouth ran out 66-19 winners. But this was a big improvement and the point gained could be very valuable in the fight against relegation from Regional 2 South Central.

Blues made four changes - Josh Brown came into the forwards, with Tom Blewitt and Tom Stout in the backs and Dan Heriot on the bench.

On a perfect afternoon for rugby, Bournemouth kicked off up the slope towards Oaklands Pavilion, with a large crowd on the touchlines and balcony.

Chichester were straight out of the traps, the ball was secured and passed across the backs through the hands of Rory Minton, Rhys Thompson and Tom Blewitt to Joel Andrews. The young speedster tore into the opposition half before releasing Luca Fleming who returned the ball back inside for Andrews to run through the defence and score out wide, converted by Minton.

Chi continued to press and a disorganised Bournemouth defence conceded a couple of penalties allowing Blues to advance into the opposition half.

Big carries from George Knight and Tyler Babb moved the ball towards the 22m line but the attack was stopped illegally allowing Minton to slot a penalty kick for 10-0.

Bournemouth were awarded a penalty which they kicked into Vultures’ Corner for a lineout. With a significant weight advantage in the forwards they mauled the ball over the whitewash for a try, converted, 10-7.

On 29 minutes Bournemouth infringed at the breakdown 30m out, and once again Minton slotted the ball through the posts, 13-7.

The visitors secured the ball and advanced to the try line. Again, their rolling maul proved unstoppable and they crossed the line to score a second try, converted to give them a 13-14 lead at half-time.

Chichester kicked off up the slope and it was soon evident that, after their half-time team talk, Bournemouth had upped the intensity chasing the bonus point win necessary to keep their outside chance of promotion alive.

For 12 minutes Chichester’s well organised defence dealt with everything the visitors threw at themt before finally being undone by a breakaway from a maul that saw Bournemouth score and lose a player to the sin bin, making the score 13-21.

With a manpower advantage Blues enjoyed a period of sustained possession but were unable to reduce the deficit. On 65 minutes the visitors crossed the whitewash again and there was palpable sense of relief among the large travelling contingent of Bournemouth supporters, having secured their try bonus point, conversion missed, 13-26.

However, Chichester weren’t finished. From the restart they went straight up the pitch and laid siege to the Bournemouth try line.

Having failed to make an impression, battering their way over the line with pick and goes, the ball was moved swiftly towards Vultures’ Corner where a long looping pass found Tom Whitehouse in space to score. A missed conversion meant it was 18-26.

With momentum firmly in Blues favour they pressed forward looking to score again but Bournemouth’s defence held out until three minutes from time when they were penalised in front of the posts and lost a second player to the sin bin. The penalty was slotted by Minton for 21-26.

In the final three minutes there were a couple of nervy moments for both teams before the referee blew for the end of the game.

Chichester go to Guildford on Saturday (3pm) in a crucial clash at the bottom of the league.