Chichester's winning run continues

On Saturday, Chichester welcomed Winchester to Oaklands Park. Blues made 6 changes to the team that beat Basingstoke, last time out, with Harry Soden-Bridger joining the forwards, Dave Barber and Tom Blewitt returning in the backs and Josh Brown, Owen Tucker and Phil Dicken on the bench.

On an unseasonally warm and sunny autumn afternoon, it was Chichester who kicked off down the slope with a gusting north easterly wind at their backs. Early pressure from Winchester was absorbed before Blues advanced down the pitch into the red zone. From the back of a scrum, 20 metres out, Chris Johnson picked up the ball and went down the blindside to score after 6 minutes. Conversion missed. 5 - 0. From the restart, Chichester were straight back on the attack and opted for a scrum penalty after a Winchester infringement in front of the posts. Once again, Johnson picked up the ball at the back of the scrum and charged through the defence to dot down. Converted by George Hicks. 12 - 0 with 11 minutes played. With ball in hand, Winchester looked dangerous but handling errors thwarted any meaningful progress up the pitch. With the visitors a man down because of injury, Dave Barber took an inside pass on halfway advancing 25 metres before releasing Oscar de Lacy who took the ball into contact. Dan Heriot stepped in as acting scrum half, spotted a gap in the defence, and cantered through for a try under the posts. Converted by Hicks. 19 - 0 with 20 minutes on the clock. Blues’ return to the red zone was immediate and they looked to have scored from a rolling maul but the referee spotted a knock on. From the 5 metre scrum, Chichester pushed the opposition off the ball and Johnson was on hand to pick up and dive over the whitewash for his hat trick and a bonus point. Conversion missed. 24 - 0 after 25 minutes. Within 5 minutes, Winchester were back in the game scoring two tries, one of which was converted. The first was from an interception and the second from a Blues handling error, that was run in from 70 metres. 24 - 12. From the restart, Chichester moved the ball back into the opposition half and were awarded a penalty which Barber kicked to the corner. From the lineout, the forwards mauled the ball across the line for Tom Belcher to dot down. Conversion missed.

29 - 12 at half time with Winchester still in the game.

Winchester were penalised from the kick off and de Lacy’s tap penalty caught most of the players on the pitch out of position. However, Binfield was available to receive the ball and crashed through the scrambling defence to score close to the posts. Converted by Hicks. 36 - 12. Johnson secured the restart deep inside the Chichester half and then proceeded on a 55 metre charge through the Winchester defence, much to the delight of the Blues’ supporters, before finally running out of steam on the opposition 22 metre line and off loading to Owen Tucker. The ball was moved out to Vultures Corner and then back across the pitch where Davies’s pass found Ethan Etherington who jinked through the defensive line to score. Conversion missed. 41 - 12 after 45 minutes. Within 4 minutes, Chichester had increased their lead further with a fine solo run from the halfway line by Hicks, who dummied 3 defenders to score out wide. Converted by Tom Blewitt. 48 - 12. Blues weren’t finished and more pressure saw Winchester give up the ball and territory as they were driven back up the pitch, conceding penalties in the red zone. Once again, Barber poked the ball into the corner, for the lineout drive, and it was Binfield who carried the ball over for his second try. Conversion missed. 53 - 12 with 20 minutes left on the clock. Winchester upped the tempo and started playing a more direct game which saw them score 2 tries, the second another glorious 70 metre run which was converted, before the referee brought proceeding to an end.

Full time and 53 - 24, with Blues securing 5 points, and their sixth win, to remain top of Hampshire 1. Winchester did not stop competing and were rewarded with a bonus point.

Next week Chichester have a week off before heading to Farnham on the 14th of November.

Chichester squad: Soden-Bridger, Belcher, Lowndes, Heriot, Toft, French, Binfield (capt.), Johnson, De Lacy, Davies, Etherington, Hicks, Barber, Delderfield, Blewitt, Brown, Tucker and Dicken.