A hard-fought, ground-out win for Blackheath in awful conditions, but pushed all the way by a Dings side that dominated much of the game and who were unfortunate to leave the Utilita empty-handed.
For the last 25 minutes, the Bristol club, new to National League One this term, pounded the Club defence but, one breach apart, the red and black line held, to claim victory.
“It was one for the purist and very difficult conditions to play in,” said Club director of rugby James Shanahan.
“Our plan was to not play any rugby in our half during the first period when the wind was kind of with us, and put them under pressure, which we did quite well, coming away with the points.”
“Once we went 16-0 up, and it became a three-score game, I thought they would struggle, but nine second half penalties shows the pressure Dings put us under. They retained the ball well, moved the point of attack, and really stressed our defence.”
“Overall this season our defence hasn’t been up to the standards we expect, but I challenged the players this week and today it was a hundred times better, only conceding the one try.”
In the final analysis, it was the three first half penalties from the boot of Oli Burgess that made the difference.
Even with the gusty wind marginally in his favour, the first was a fine strike from over 40-metres, soon followed by an easier effort.
The Dings defence also proved resilient, but a long period of Blackheath pressure culminated in another penalty, the Club fly-half judging the wind to perfection to see his kick curve through the uprights for a 9-0 advantage at the interval.
The greasy ball frequently slipped from grasp for both sides, but on 55 minutes Blackheath found a great handling move to take play to the right corner and ending with an infringement close enough for lock Mike Etete to storm over from the quickly taken tap, Burgess adding the conversion.
However, Dings had the better of the scrum throughout and, with a growing ascendancy at the lineout, also began to dominate possession and mount huge pressure on the Club goal-line.
Desperate defence saw the ball held up, but eventually, with Blackheath temporarily reduced to 14-men, the dam was breached and second-row Will Thompson drove across.
George Boulton added the conversion, but the Dings fly-half saw his late penalty slip wide to deny the Bristolians a losing bonus point.
National League rugby takes a break next weekend, before Blackheath head for Rotherham on 7th December with a 2.00 pm kick-off at Clifton Lane. The Club then return to The Utilita with two home games against Leicester Lions and Bishop’s Stortford prior to Christmas.
Blackheath
Tries: Etete 55
Conv: Burgess 55
Pens: Burgess 17, 22, 40
Dings Crusaders
Tries: Williams 72
Conv: Boulton 72
Attendance: 555
| 15 | . | Jake Hennessey |
| 14 | . | Jake Lloyd |
| 13 | . | Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas |
| 12 | . | Markus Burcham |
| 11 | . | Matt Armstrong |
| 10 | . | Oli Burgess |
| 9 | . | Jordan Burns |
| 1 | . | Archie Holland |
| 2 | . | Billy Harding |
| 3 | . | Rory Marsh |
| 4 | . | Mike Etete |
| 5 | . | Tom Everard |
| 6 | . | Josh Smart |
| 7 | . | Noah Sloot |
| 8 | . | Tom Baldwin (Capt) |
| 16 | . | Alex Witchell |
| 17 | . | Andrew Boye |
| 18 | . | Ben Charnock |
| 19 | . | Tom Ffitch |
| 22 | . | Tex Cavubati |
Photos: Nick King/Debbie Lloyd
Graham Cox
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