Chichester 2nd XV 23 - Old Tottonians 13

Chichester welcomed last season’s Senior Merit Table winners Old Tottonians to Sunny Oaklands Park.
Following Chichester’s win the previous weekend, the home side felt confident of a good result, even with 4 changes from the line-up that beat Portsmouth.
The game started off at a frenetic pace, with Old Tottonians the first to draw blood after 4 minutes, scoring a well executed try much to the shock of the home side. The extras were converted. Score: 0-7.
The home side rallied and managed to put pressure on the visitors making good ground into the opposition half until following a good break down the right hand side by the pack, the ball was shipped to Jim Taylor who almost had his head removed by the opposition centre directly in front of the posts. Toby Golds stepped up and slotted the penalty conversion. 3-7.
Unfortunately, due to the concussion received from the last infringement, Jim Taylor had to leave the pitch to be replaced by Will Mitchell. With a bit of reshuffling of the back line Darren Lockyer stepped up to the mark and took on the responsibility of the Number 10 shirt, with Mitchell moving to the centre.
Chichester were soon awarded with another opportunity to put points on the board, when a penalty was awarded within shooting distance. Golds stepped up to make the score 6-7.
Old Tottonians were attacking well, through driving mauls and good hard running from the centres but Chichester defended with all they had to prevent any more scoring in the first half. Again, Chichester were struck with more bad news just before the half time whistle when Mark Giddings needed medical attention when a concussion received in a tackle, forced him to leave the pitch to be replaced by James Sandy.
Chichester weathered the storm for the remaining minutes of the first half, with Luke Davies and John Lindsay working their socks off to stop mauls in their tracks. There was a sigh of relief when the half time whistle went, that Old Tottonians hadn’t put any more points on the board.
After the break, it was much of the same with Old Tottonians winning lineouts and driving down the pitch. 6 minutes into the half Old Tott’s were awarded a penalty that was converted after Chichester infringed at the breakdown. Score: 6-10.
It looked as though Old Tottonians had started to get a grip on the game when they were awarded another penalty which was converted to make the score 6-13.
More bad news was to follow, when John Lindsay had to leave the field with a knee injury, meaning that the pack had to be re-shuffled to allow Dave Stedman to move to hooker, with Captain Liam O’Hagan moving to his favourable 7 position.
O’Hagan then stepped up as captain urging the side to pick up the pace of the game. From a quickly taken penalty Chichester ventured into the Old Tott’s half, to where the ball was shipped to O’Hagan who dummied the defence and got brought down just outside the 5 metre line. The Chichester forwards then recycled quickly to allow Rich Johnson to snipe down the right hand side of the maul, step one player and crash over the line, much to the delight of the home crowd. Golds slotted the extras to even the scores at 13 -13.
Chichester then seemed to be playing with extra confidence, probably with the fact that the pace had been raised to keep the ball away from the Old Tott’s forward pack. The home side pressurised the visitors into a mistake when after a failed clearance kick landed in Ben Robson’s hands on the blind side, shipped to Will Mitchell who with a turn of pace finished in the left hand corner to give Chichester the lead for the first time in the game. Score: 18 – 13.
Old Tottonians then started to rally themselves with only minutes remaining, gaining an advantage by winning a scrum on the Chichester 5 metre line. Much to the relief of the home side, Dave Stedman managed to steal the ball against the head, to allow Tom Lowe to pick from the base of the scrum to carry out of the 22 so the ball could be cleared from danger.
With 4 minutes remaining, Chichester were awarded a penalty within their own half, again Chichester won good ball, and Lowe at 8 picked and attacked the blind side passing to scrum half Johnson, who punted the ball up the pitch. The chasing Chichester players managed to turn the ball over on the line, with Stedman picking from the base and feeding to Golds who scored in the corner to put the game out of sight for the opposition. Conversion missed. Score 23 – 13.
With the last play of the game, Chichester were awarded another penalty, but instead of kicking to touch, the captain decided on giving the spectators some more to cheer about, with a quick tap, again dummied the defence, passing to Lowe who broke down the right hand side of the pitch. Unfortunately, the attempted behind the back pass did not go to hand and the ball was knocked on, leading to the full time whistle.
Final Score 23 -13.
Chichester 2nd XV have a 2 week gap before their next league game, but hope to pick up a friendly on one of the free weekends.