Rugby union: Blackheath earn bonus point in win over local rivals Rosslyn Park

Blackheath needed to dig deep to collect a bonus point win as they saw off Rosslyn Park 32-24 in National League One, writes Graham Cox.

The Club held the upper hand on the scoreboard, bar an eight-minute spell in the second period, but the visitors were never out of the contest.

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 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 went 15-0 ahead.

Park opted for territory in preference to goal opportunities, only to be disrupted by Blackheath’s superior lineout, Tom Everard made 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 restart 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 12-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 10-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. 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. Although the scrum-half did not see out the remainder of the contest due to a leg injury, his impact was decisive.

Keeping the Club on the front-foot during numerous phases and great recycling, the scrum-half shot a pass inside to where Hirskyj-Douglas cut a perfect angle to crash over the goal-line for Blackheath’s fourth try with 12 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.

Blackheath travel to  Birmingham Moseley tomorrow.

Wimbledon are fourth in Regional 1 South Central – one of four clubs with a 100 per cent record.

The Dons were 68-7 winners over Old Alleynians on Saturday. They head to Tunbridge Wells tomorrow.