Chichester salvage bonus point on island
Chichester made the trip across the Solent to play Sandown and Shanklin – and took a bonus point on a tough afternoon on which they lost 43-28.
Blues made seven changes with Fin Glass and Huw Binfield coming into the pack, Gareth Davies, Lennon Bell and Rory Dowding joining the backs and Tom Treagus and Mike Burton on the bench.
With Chichester playing up the steeply sloping pitch into a headwind, Sandown kicked off on a bright but chilly afternoon.
Blues made an encouraging start and, from a lineout on halfway, Davies moved the ball out to Tom Mahon for a pass to a charging Harry Clark who burst through the Sandown defensive line and evaded the full-back line to run in a 50m try, converted by Mahon.
Sandown moved the ball down the pitch and after several phases Chichester were penalised for what looked a harsh deliberate knock-on, losing a player to the sin bin and conceding a penalty try.
Blues’ depleted defence held out for five minutes before conceding a penalty within kicking range, the hosts taking a 10-7 lead.
Despite the challenging conditions, Josh Brown’s throw-ins at lineout were arrow straight and Dowding’s kicking into the wind was exemplary. However, Chichester’s tackling was woeful and, in the space of 23 minutes, they conceded five tries, four being converted to give Sandown a 43-7 lead at half-time.
Chichester immediately had Sandown under pressure after the restart as they tried to repel the Blues advance towards the try line.
It took 14 minutes, six penalties and a sin binning before a Chichester tap and go, close to the 5m line, was moved forward and Davies dived over to score, converted by Mahon.
Sandown got to the Blues’ red zone but a glorious clearance kick from Dowding moved play 80m down the pitch. The hosts’ clearance kick was received by the chasing Dowding and his grubber kick bobbled, cleared the defensive line and was collected by Ethan Etherington who rounded the last defender to dot down, converted by Mahon – 43-21.
Blues struggled to convert their dominance into points because of the islanders’ well-organised defence. On 70 minutes it seemed Etherington had scored again but the ball was stripped as he crossed the whitewash.
Sandown spilled the ball after a chop tackle from Rob Hennig, with Dan Heriot on hand to pick up and offload to the supporting Owen Tucker. Chichester’s captain surged forward but the last defender clung desperately to his shirt and he was stopped 5m short.
Davies and Binfield arrived in support but the Sandown scramble defence bundled the Blues’ players into touch. The lineout was knocked on and from the scrum the islanders were penalised for crossing, providing Blues with a final chance to secure a try bonus points with seconds left.
MoM Davies tapped the ball and Binfield took it into contact close to the posts but the referee blew for an infringement and signalled another penalty on the 5m line.
Hennig spotted a gap in the Sandown defence, tapped the ball and had dived over before most realised what was happening – a wonderful piece of opportunism securing a bonus point. It was converted by Mahon.
It was a tough afternoon for players and supporters alike but Blues’ second half performance saw Sandown carry the ball over the halfway line only three times in 40 minutes and spend significant periods penned back in their red zone.
The game was lost in the first half but the players will regroup and prepare for the visit of Winchester on Saturday.
Chichester: G. Knight, Brown, Glass, Tucker (capt), Heriot, Clark, Hennig, Binfield, Davies, Mahon, Etherington, Bell, Scrivin Wood, West, Dowding, Treagus, Burton, Cameron.