Photos: Debbie Lloyd
An excellent game between two of National League One’s fiercest rivals, fast, furious, and physical, and all played out under glorious warm autumnal sunshine at The Utilita Well Hall.
Throughout, Blackheath held the upper hand on the scoreboard, bar an eight-minute spell in the second period when Rosslyn Park looked to be gaining the ascendancy, but the visitors were never out of the contest, and the Club needed to dig deep to finish strongly and claim the bonus point win.
Tom Ffitch’s second minute penalty put the hosts ahead, but a 50:22 required a turnover at the maul to repel an early Park assault.
At the end of the first quarter, however, Tevita Cavubati and Jake Hennessey created gaps in midfield, and Oskar Hirshyj-Douglas and Archie Holland put Oli Burgess through for a converted try. Cavubati then drove across from second phase off a close-range scrum, and Blackheath were 15-0 ahead.
Park opted for territory in preference to goal opportunities, only to be disrupted by Blackheath’s superior lineout (Tom Everard making a crucial steal), but their scrum was solid and, on 35 minutes, provided the platform for ball to be moved infield for centre and skipper Matt Gordan to score next to the uprights, reducing the arrears to 15-7 at the break.
Fly-half Steffan James narrowed the gap by a further three points with a long-range strike after the re-start, but a great drive by the Club pack off lineout saw Billy Harding reclaim the ball after another pinpoint accurate throw to touch down at the base of the maul and give Blackheath a twelve-point cushion.
Noah Sloot was outstanding for Blackheath at open-side, with five crucial turnovers to thwart the opposition, but even he was unable to stop Park’s response as they moved clean scrum ball on the Club ten-metre line for full-back Joe Luca Smith to send wing Charlie Walker scything down the right flank for an excellent try.
Then, on the hour-mark, and with the momentum now in the visitors’ favour, Park tight-head Rhys Charalambous burst through the midfield before offloading to scrum-half Charlie Mulchrone to score, and with James adding his third conversion, the Surrey side nudged into the lead.
Blackheath needed a lift, and it came in the form of Jack Daly entering the fray for his 100th appearance in Club colours, and although the scrum-half wouldn’t see out the remainder of the contest due to a leg injury (his 50th was marred by concussion; goodness know what disaster awaits his 200th!), his impact was decisive.
Keeping the Club on the front-foot during numerous phases and great recycling, the scrum-half then shot a pass inside to where Hirskyj-Douglas cut a perfect angle to crash over the goal-line for Blackheath’s fourth try with twelve minutes remaining.
There were still moments of tension, not least when Blackheath lost a man to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle but, handed a late penalty, Ffitch calmly slotted the goal from long-range to see out the remaining seconds.
Next Saturday, Blackheath travel to the West Midlands to take on Birmingham Moseley. Kick-off at Billesley Common is at 3.00 pm.
Blackheath
Tries: Burgess 20, Cavubati 24, Harding 47, Hirskyj-Douglas 68
Conv: Ffitch 20, 47, 68
Pens: Ffitch 2, 80
Rosslyn Park
Tries: Gordan 35, Walker 51, Mulchrone 61
Conv: James 35, 51, 61
Pens: James 41
Attendance: 627
| 15 | . | Jake Hennessey |
| 14 | . | Jake Lloyd |
| 13 | . | Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas |
| 12 | . | Oli Burgess |
| 11 | . | Matt Armstrong |
| 10 | . | Tom Ffitch |
| 9 | . | Jordan Burns |
| 1 | . | Archie Holland |
| 2 | . | Billy Harding |
| 3 | . | Andrew Boye |
| 4 | . | Tom Everard |
| 5 | . | Tevita Cavubati |
| 6 | . | Paul Schroter |
| 7 | . | Noah Sloot |
| 8 | . | Tom Baldwin (Capt) |
| 16 | . | Alex Witchell |
| 17 | . | James Cornish |
| 18 | . | Mike Hoyt |
| 19 | . | Jack Daly |
| 20 | . | Augustin Slowik |
Graham Cox
LATEST NEWS
