Blues worried after loss at Farnham – Bognor tot them up versus Tottonians

Farnham 17 Chichester 7

Regional two south east

Chichester were disappointed to a lose a game in which they had dominated possession for long spells.

There were three changes to the team that lost to Gravesend. Ben Deavall came into the pack with Charlie Norton joining the backs and Ollie Horne on the bench.

Farnham had the best of the early exchanges and twice threatened the Blues try line, but were let down by their handling as they struggled to get their rolling maul working.

Chichester were dominant in the scrum and that provided Blues the opportunity to clear their lines a number of times.

After 20 minutes another knock-on provided Chichester with a scrum 10m inside the Farnham half. The ball was passed across the backs to Alex Margarson whose looping pass missed out two players and found Ross Miller out wide.

With afterburners on, he headed down the touchline and delivered a long pass inside to Josef Amin, who took the ball into contact. After several phases Blues conceded a penalty, close to the try line, allowing Farnham to clear the ball.

Tyrese Makasi burst through a congested midfield and Blues were back in the red zone. The hosts knocked on and the Chichester pack mauled towards the try line but were stopped illegally and the referee produced a yellow card.

Blues mauled towards the line with Tom Woodhouse picking up and diving over to score. Converted by Charlie Norton for 0-7. Farnham finally moved the ball into the Chichester half but a combination of handling errors and good defence from Blues saw them struggle.

On 40 minutes, Chichester were penalised for not releasing 25m out, and Farnham slotted the three points, 3-7 at half-time.

For the first 30 minutes of the second half, play ebbed and flowed between the 22m lines with neither team able to penetrate.

Farnham infringements provided Blues with three lineouts in the red zone but inaccurate throws and poor handling gave possession back to the hosts and a penalty kick from 25m drifted wide.

On 70 minutes a Chichester infringement and back chat handed Farnham an opportunity, kicked into touch five metres from the try line. Their pack gathered the ball and they mauled over to score, converted, 10-7.

From the restart Farnham’s scrum half ran the ball back to halfway and chipped over the top putting Blues back in their red zone. Eventually an infringement at the lineout gave Farnham another lineout on the Chichester 5m line.

In the melee the ball was picked up and two phases later the hosts had scored their second try, converted for 17-7. Blues attacked to the end but Farnham held out.

Chichester had dominate possession for over 60 minutes, and the Blues now find themselves in the relegation dogfight. MoM: Will Prior.

On Saturday, Chichester host fellow strugglers Beckenham (2.30pm) - all local support needed.

SIMON TANNER

Bognor 52 Tottonians 14

Counties 2 Hants

Bognor maintained pressure at the top of the table with a solid win over Tottonians.

The victory leaves Bognor a point behind leaders New Milton with five games to play.

From kick-off, the visitors opted to play out of their own half but, in typical fashion, Charlie Jays got his first of many breakdown turnovers. Jack Lysaght sent the penalty kick deep into the attacking 22 and the resulting lineout created a platform for the ball to be fed out wide, with winger Kurtus Dent sliding over to open the scoring.

Moments later, a well orchestrated move found Jamie Foote enticing the defenders with a decoy run as Jeremy Newton Young utilised the space wide and gave Ollie Fuller the ball for him to speed down the wing and score his first of four tries.

Continued pressure from Bognor resulted in a driving maul strolling over the try line with Josh Burgess the beneficiary.

The home side closed the first half with a final try, winger Fuller receiving the ball in the wide channels and dazzling his opposing winger with his footwork. HT 28-0

More of the same came from the second half. Immediately the kick off was returned – captain Shane Stevens and Fuller connected well on the wing and Fuller dotted down in the corner.

The fourth of Fuller’s tries came in almost identical fashion.

The Tottonians fly-half’s continuous attempts to orchestrate some successful attacking play eventually paid off, with the 10 minute dismissal of two Bognor players, Shaun Bailey and Russ Watmore, both for separate infringements at the breakdown.

Tottonians scored two tries and with the score at 40-14, the three eager home substitutes were introduced.

With Tyrone Makasi’s late unavailability, Sam Newcombe received the call for a welcome return after 14 months out. It was an opportunity that he enjoyed, making some big tackles in the midfield and scoring two tries to close out the game.

Tries: Fuller x4, Newcombe x2, Dent, Burgess. Cons: Lysaght 6/8. MoM: Fuller. Bognor visit United Services this weekend.

JACK HORNIBROOK