Chichester went back on the road to long standing rivals Gravesend ; last season saw two thrilling matches and today was to be no different.The blues started very brightly with powerful surges from the forwards immediately gaining good field position, Aaron Davies as he was to do all day made some big dents in the Gs defence but probably the most pleasing part of the opening exchanges was at scrum time where the blue pack put huge pressure on Gravesend with the front row combo of Woods Giddings and Belcher backed up by the power of Lindsay and Blount in the row. Gs have a very big front row and the titanic battle in the tight was to prove to be crucial.

From this very solid platform the blue pack launched a series of raids – good scrambling defence by Gs kept them at bay and their wiley forwards managed to slow down the ball with clever work at the break down ; penalties started to come but at this stage no cards. The away side continued to turn the screw and after a couple of early wobbles Davies soared high to secure good lineout ball – Chi showed the patience lacking in recent weeks and eventually a series of drives saw Tom Belcher power over. conversion missed 5-0.
The blues continued to press home using the wind and elements with more pressure on the Gs line, three pens in a row and eventually the home right wing came in miles offside to be yellow carded. 20 mins in and a man up; but inexplicably the blues seemed to switch off and Gravesend upped the levels. The Gs pack started to gain parity and their back line looked increasingly dangerous quick ball and a series of poor tackles in the blues backs saw the Gs centre burst clear and score wide out. Conversion missed 5-5.

Still down to 14 and Gs were creating space down the middle of the field and the 13 was through a very staggered line to look like an easy score – somehow Tanner got back putting to put in a despairing tap tackle the ball spilled almost on the line. Polhill rallied the troops and time and again he put his body on the line to try and turn the tide back in the blues favour. Driscoll showed signs of his good early season form with a couple of excellent breaks and strength to hold of defenders but try as they might the blues could not fashion another score HT 5-5.

The away side had played some excellent rugby in the first half but knew with elements in their favour and the amount of ball they had 5 apiece was not good enough. Davies again carried hard and the blues battled up the slope but small errors and suddenly lighting breaks from the Gs and Chi were defending on their line. The blue pack produced a massive scrum shunting Gs back with the scrum round 90 it looked like another scrum but the ref let the play go on; the back row covered and felt sure they had stopped the big Fijian 8 short of the line but the ref awarded the try 5-10.More pressure resulting in a pen which was slotted 5-13.
Time to up the tempo or the game could move away. Suddenly Bentall decided to take a grip of the situation with three or four huge runs bouncing defenders and hauling the blues back into the match. After a series of forward surges and the centres now carrying hard Bentall hit a fat line carving through the startled forwards two big smashes later and Bentall had powered over from 30 m out. Conversion missed 10-13.

The game was on a knife edge and Gs immediately responded with slick movement they moved the ball at pace getting outside the cover to score their third try. 10-18.

The blues poured on the bench with Gray initially at 2 and then to the back row and Turner on for Belcher with Woods moving to tight head. Harte replaced Tanner on the wing who had picked up a knock. All three subs were to play vital roles as the last 15mins play became white hot.

Chi surged with Adams now giving the Gs some real problems in defence with excellent pace and distribution suddenly Renwick and Lowe surged into life Renwick’s angled run proving space for the deceptive Lowe to get on the outside of 13 excellent pace saw him to the line Anscombe hit a great conversion 17-18.The last 10 mins were a frenzy some unbelievable tackles from Gs showed just how much they wanted it and only real heart and determination from Chi kept the pressure on ; with options closing through the tidal wave defence Anscombe looked for the drop goal but it pulled wide in the wind. A penalty attempt was turned down for a kick to the corner which was over thrown would the blues rue their boldness. An emphatic no was the answer with a retreating defence the pack produced more great ball Bentall like a one man carrying machine punched huge holes quick movement and chi were out wide again a great run from Harte and centre Lowe interplayed with Harte who although well tackled managed to offload back to Lowe and the big centre cantered over conversion missed 22-18. Four tries and the bonus point – however the blues still had to scramble in defence for another few minutes but they were not to be denied Final Score 22-18 Wow.

Stuart Anscome backs coach ` The whole team worked together but I was particularly pleased that after a slowish start are two centres really started to click`.

Keith Martin ` Its always tough a Gravesend – I was very proud of our boys today showing real heart`.

Paul Colley 'As the guys have said tremendous heart but also no lack of skill the last two tries were top drawer and testament to the brand of rugby rob is trying to get us to play'.

Next week is a break from the league with most of the guys taking a well earned rest – Chi then take on Hertford at home on the 17th. Should be another massive encounter.

Chi squad: Woods Giddings Belcher Lindsay Blount Bentall Polhill –capt Davies Toone Adams Tanner Renwick Lowe Driscoll Anscombe Turner Gray & Harte