Bonus point victory

Chichester 37 Dover 14.
Chichester kept their 6 point lead at the top with a solid win by 4 tries,4 conversions and 3 penalties to 2 tries and conversions. It was Dover's biggest loss so far and the Blues completed their third double. The visitors were tough as usual but mistakes and infringements cost them dear when trying desperately to prevent possession.Chi fly half Stuart Pearham succeeded with all the place kicks and collected 17 points.
Martin O'Callaghan started in the second row and Jack Taggart at no.8, Moses Kasujja moving to blindside flanker.Chi went ahead in just over a minute after the backs attacked and forwards drove towards the right corner.Pearham showed vision with a superb crossfield kick which centre Manoa Satala capatilised on to score out wide. Pearham added the extras. Dover then seized on a mistake and penetrated down the middle,then kicked to the corner to begin a series of lineouts, rucks and scrums.Chi defended well and held them before gaining a turnover to clear.Chi won quick ball and Pearham kicked the first penalty for offside, 10-0. Richard Adams impressed with a huge touch kick,followed by a forwards drive from half way to the 22. The ball was spun across and Billy Toone was upended a metre short of the line after he came round to take the final pass.Another bright backs move faltered with a poor pass at boot level.Left winger Toby Golds fielded a high kick inside his 22 and,as a graduate of the Adams school of dancing,he stepped and jinked past half a dozen opponents across the pitch.It was greatly admired by his fan club but it was ended by a rather high tackle Pressure mounted on the Dover defence which held up another drive.Taggart made good ground for the backs to try again.Richard.Deed picked up cleverly and passed to Satala to chip over the top but an awkward bounce prevented a score by the onrushing Adams. Toone left the field and was replaced at scrum half by Chris Wagstaff.Deed tried an ambitious long range drop kick but it crash landed quickly.Dover broke out but sadly for them a pass to the centre was smartly intercepted by Satala and he raced 45 metres to score near the posts.Pearham was in the groove and made it 17-0 at half time. There was an interesting battle going on in the tight,with experienced Dover campaigners striving to contain Chi's forward power. But with the amazingly fit Ben Polhill doing the work of an extra player, they were giving away penalties in the rucks.The tall locks on both sides were winning their own lineouts but Chi had won most loose ball.
One minute into the second period Dover killed the ball in the ruck and Perham slotted the penalty,soon followed by another for infringement to stop the Blue tide.23-0.Dover backs handled well on a raid but Polhill took over,stealing the ball and feeding Wagstaff to clear.They came again and a penalty to the right corner gave them lineout, drive and ball to the backs. Sedgwick was awarded a try despite Blues being sure that Golds was below him and the ball not grounded. Phillips added extras. There was now a long period of Chi pressure. A lineout drive was initially held up but Phil Veltom seized a second chance and dived over. Conversion,30-7. Prop Ash Wheeler took a knock and Nick Shopland came on.Nick Blount was a lock replacement.Polhill and Kasujja linked in a powerful surge,supported by a Pearham grubber kick which forced a lineout. Captain Scott Barlow soared and fed back to Kasujja who hurtled down the blindside to round and touch down near the posts.for the bonus point. Conversion,37-7.Polhill ran 35 metres evading tackles to set up good attacking position.Dover kept infringing and Chi chose to kick three times to the corner without reward when an extra nine points was available to put on the electronic scoreboard.Finally,after 5 minutes of added time, Dover ran to the other end and with good hands split the Chi centres for Annakie to grab a consolation try, Sedgwick converting.Full time,37-14. Next week Chi go to Sidcup who are unbeaten at home. A vital game to win with Guernsey and Old Elthamians continuing the chase for promotion.
Richard Isaac [Backs coach]said 'We had some purple patches when our intensity produced very good rugby.Our backs play has stepped up and we had better balance today.Stuart Pearham was in his best kicking form.'

Chi squad Wheeler Lawrence Veltom Barlow O'Callaghan Kasujja Polhill Taggart Toone Pearham Golds Satala Deed Adams Knowles Shopland Blount Wagstaff

MOM Ben Polhill ( followed by Lawrence & Golds)