Blackheath 51 Birmingham Moseley 26 – Second-half onslaught earns National One victory
Blackheath won 51-26 in National League One againat Birmingham Moseley on Saturday as they produced a devastating second period with four tries in a 20-minute spell to leave the visitors in tatters.
Jake Hennessey went across after collecting Tom Ffitch’s long pass out wide, before the same pair got involved again, the fly-half’s crossfield kick fielded by his full-back, and with the pack arriving quickly, tight-head Andy Boye was driven across.
Lineout ball was moved back to the short side for Jake Lloyd to scamper over, and then as Ffitch made the line break from halfway, Jordan Burns came up at pace to finish off.
With Ffitch landing all four conversions, and throwing in a penalty strike, the Club led by 30 points with 63 minutes played.
The offensive gradually eased but the defence proved more robust than in the first period, with Josh Smart making some huge tackles at blind-side, and one thunderous hit from debutant Ollie Kitto on the left wing.
It remained disciplined too, until the closing stages, when Moseley gained field position to drive open-side Morgan Dawes across to give the visitors the consolation of the four-try bonus.
Blackheath had opened the scoring in the first period with Billy Harding powering over from lineout before Ffitch added a penalty.
Moseley were clinical from their set-piece also, skipper and number eight Ollie Stedman followed by centre Morgan Adderley-Jones.
Handling errors frustrated Blackheath until Noah Sloot went across out wide, before Moseley stretched their advantage to 21-13 with a Jack Jolly try, the scrum-half adding a third conversion.
However, as ball was moved inside from a short throw on half-time, Harding crashed under the uprights for his second score to narrow the gap to a single point at the interval, and set up Blackheath’s second half onslaught.
“Our attack was good in the first half, and we could have had a couple more tries,” said Blackheath director of rugby James Shanahan. “It was more the defensive aspect that I spoke of at the break. It was too easy to score against us – we were too passive.
“From the restart, our kick-chase game was excellent, which gave us the opportunities to launch, and kill them off with four tries in 12 minutes either side of the interval. Then defensively we were more aggressive, which was key.
“Tom Ffitch was outstanding. His game-management, distribution and there was a lovely break for the final try, but also his touch and place-kicking. There were a couple of early misses, but then some beauties from the touchline.”
Blackheath make the long journey north on Saturday as they travel to bottom of the table Darlington Mowden Park. Kick off is at 3pm at the Darlington Arena where the Club has been defeated on the last three visits.
Blackheath’s next home game is against Plymouth Albion on February 8.
PICTURES: NICK KING