A breathless encounter with an undercurrent of molten lava that threatened to erupt at any moment, but Blackheath holding on to win and consigning Rams to a sixth successive defeat, the Berkshire side having been the early runaway leaders of National League One.
The game was played at a frantic pace from the outset and it was Blackheath who struck first with a mere 70 seconds on the clock.
Jake Lloyd and Andy Boye made inroads into the Rams’ twenty-two, and as Markus Burcham sent Jake Hennessey, coming up from full-back, towards the goal-line, support arrived for Tom Baldwin to twist around and score.
An intercepted pass on nine minutes allowed Rams to launch a move from deep, ending with their impressive wing Jack Rampton sending scrum-half Ollie Hodgson across but, almost straight from the re-start, Burcham pierced the visitors’ defence, the centre finding Jordan Burns on his inside to put the hosts seven points back in front.
Again, Rams drew level as tight-head Nick Barry barged his way across from close-range, but there was always an edge to this contest following the acrimonious reverse fixture in November, and its aftermath, and it was Rams who lashed out and saw a penalty reversed against them for foul play.
Tom Stradwick took the resultant lineout ball, and as backs as well as forwards flew into the maul, Billy Harding peeled off for the try to put Blackheath 19-14 ahead at the interval.
It took 80 seconds from re-start this time for Blackheath to strike again. Stradwick, Burcham and Hennessey exposed Rams’ midfield to take play deep into the Rams’ twenty-two, and with Jake Lloyd weaving towards the try-line, Tex Cavubati crashed over for a fourth Blackheath try.
The Club back division again joined the drive following another lineout for Harding to claim his second try of the match, and the hooker’s 17th of the season, and with Hennessey adding a penalty for a 20-point advantage, and the excellent Josh Smart, playing at open-side, making crucial turnovers in both defence and attack, Blackheath looked to be in an unassailable position
However, a charged-down kick, and another fine offload from Rampton, saw Rams’ tries for second-row Dan Swain and full-back Zak Clow to bite a chunk out of the advantage and bring Rams back into contention with a quarter of the match remaining.
Nevertheless, on 70 minutes a massive further drive from the Club pack, going a full twenty metres, saw Stradwick across for the crucial score to put Blackheath 13-points ahead.
Rams’ scrum, which had the dominant edge for the most part, claimed a penalty try to give Blackheath a nervy 30 seconds, but one final turnover was enough to claim victory.
Next Saturday Blackheath travel to Bristol to take on Dings Crusaders on the 4G surface at Shaftesbury Park, kick off is at 3.00 pm.
The next and final home game of the season is on Saturday 5th April with the visit of Rotherham.
Blackheath
Tries: Baldwin 1, Burns 11, Harding 31, 49, Cavubati 41, Stradwick 70
Conv: Hennessey 1, 11, 41
Pens: Hennessey 54
Rams
Tries: Hodgson 9, Barry 25, Swain 56, Clow 59, Penalty
Conv: Honey 9, 25, 56
Attendance: 450
| 15 | . | Jake Hennessey |
| 14 | . | Jake Lloyd |
| 13 | . | Markus Burcham |
| 12 | . | Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas |
| 11 | . | Matt Armstrong |
| 10 | . | Augy Slowik |
| 9 | . | Jordan Burns |
| 1 | . | Archie Holland |
| 2 | . | Billy Harding |
| 3 | . | Andy Boye |
| 4 | . | Tom Stradwick |
| 5 | . | Tex Cavubati |
| 6 | . | Mike Hoyt |
| 7 | . | Josh Smart |
| 8 | . | Tom Baldwin (Capt) |
| 16 | . | Alex Witchell |
| 17 | . | Rory Marsh |
| 18 | . | Ollie Walliker |
| 19 | . | Jack Daly |
| 20 | . | Finn Gilmour |
Photos: Debbie Lloyd
Graham Cox
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