Photos courtesy of Malcolm Beadle
Stiffer challenges will present themselves during this National League One campaign, but on this day, and against this opposition, Blackheath were superior in every department.
The gulf was especially evident up front, where the Club’s set-piece dominated throughout, the lineout providing the platform for six of their seven tries, three from first-phase ball.
It was three phases, and only three minutes, before Blackheath registered their opening score as Noah Sloot drove across from close-range.
An interception, as the visitors pressed again, gave Leicester Lions their best period of the match, as Blackheath infringed and open-side Max Humphreys went over, and but for a forward pass, the East Midlanders, who looked sharp on the break, might have taken the lead.
However, with Finn Osborne at number-eight continually smashing a path up the middle of an overcast Westleigh Park, the ever-alert Jordan Burns made further ground from a tap-and-go, for Darragh Walsh to cross out wide for a try on the wing’s league debut.
As half time approached, Archie Smeaton got within a couple of metres, before Ed Scragg finished off, and with Ed Dunford adding the second of five successful conversions, Blackheath led 19-5 at the interval.
A penalty try followed soon after the re-start, as the Lions came in at the side of the maul, and while Archie Holland, Rory Marsh and James Cornish nudged forward at the scrum, Billy Harding and Archie Bourne consistently found Scragg, Smeaton and Fin O’Sullivan at the lineout, Sloot driving over from another perfectly executed catch-and-drive on the hour for the open-side’s second try.
It was never a free-flowing game. Unforced errors frustrated both sides in that respect, though the Lions did manage to put together a move that saw centre Freddie St John claim a consolation score on 70 minutes, but Blackheath finished by driving Bourne and Harding across, the latter’s sixth try in three matches.
‘This year we’ve injected a youthful energy into the squad,’ said player of the match Jordan Burns. ‘We’re learning and improving every week.’
‘Working behind a strong pack gives me something of an armchair ride at scrum-half, and allows me to concentrate on finding holes around the breakdown, feeding other people. Hopefully that will continue.’
‘Rosslyn Park next Saturday will be a much bigger challenge. They will test our physicality and they have a lightning quick back three.’
‘I’m really looking forward to it.’
Like Blackheath, Rosslyn Park, one of the Club’s oldest rivals, will arrive at The Utilita Well Hall on maximum points from their three matches to date. Kick off is at 3.00 pm.
Leicester Lions
Tries: Humphreys 11, St John 70
Conv: Mannion 70
Blackheath
Tries: Sloot 3, 60, Walsh 18, Scragg 39, Penalty 46, Bourne 72, Harding 78
Conv: Dunford 3, 39, 60, 72, 78
Attendance: 150
| 15 | . | Darragh Walsh |
| 14 | . | Jake Lloyd |
| 13 | . | Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas |
| 12 | . | Raff Hollister |
| 11 | . | Luke Pollock |
| 10 | . | Ed Dunford |
| 9 | . | Jordan Burns |
| 1 | . | Archie Holland |
| 2 | . | Billy Harding (Capt) |
| 3 | . | Rory Marsh |
| 4 | . | Fin O’Sullivan |
| 5 | . | Ed Scragg |
| 6 | . | Archie Smeaton |
| 7 | . | Noah Sloot |
| 8 | . | Finn Osborne |
| 16 | . | Archie Bourne |
| 17 | . | James Cornish |
| 18 | . | Will Jameson |
| 19 | . | Sam Morley |
| 20 | . | Charlie Briers |
Graham Cox
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