Chi 2s clinch their double by winning the Sussex Bowl!

A lovely day saw chi 2s run out for the first final of the day at Chichester RFC.

Chichester went into the game with plenty of confidence but there were words of caution from coach Jim Taylor and Captain Mark Giddings, that Lewes were not going to just roll over and give it to us; they were here to play and we had to get off to a quick start.

Chichester got this quick start, and 2 tries 1 of which was converted in the first 15mins allowed the team to settle. George Perry on the wing after a solid performance against Totts last week saw him open the scoring which was converted by Will Mitchell and soon after old boy Richard Johnson made sure no one else got the ball by darting over for his customary show and go from 10m out. This keeps Johnson top of the try scoring table which in all honesty is a brilliant achievement.

Lewes upped their game there and then and started to carry strongly in their forwards and their hard running 13. Chichesters discipline dipped and lewes took the opportunity to kick penalties on the 26, 33, and 38 minute.

Within that though, chichester showed the glimpses of skill that would end up winning them the final. Mark Giddings on the 30th min showed his level of skill, and technical ability by carving a delightful line through the lewes defence, and went on his customary run around almost all of the Lewes backs to score a try under the posts. The crowd honestly loved this run, and for a backrow to run so balanced is a great thing to see. Following this,Will Mitchell finished off some slick handling and a huge carry by Liam Ferguson to go diving in wide out on the 36th min. He also converted the score to take chichester 26-9 up at the break.

Half time saw Chichester talk about tightening up the fringe defence to stop lewes from doing their standard pick and goes from the base of almost every ruck, and use their own forwards to carry more as a unit.

The perfect start was handed to Chichester, and a try on the 45th min by Jake Rigby gave them a distinct advantage, Jake finished off some quick ruck ball with some nice footwork. With that the subs were made, within about 15mins 5 of the subs were on the pitch. For a period of time Chichester lacked a tiny bit of intensity and allowed Lewes to get to grips with the game. This by no means was the fault of the subs, as everyone that played a part of the final did a super job. It may have been because at 33-9 a bit of complacency set in!

As stated, Lewes got themselves back into the game and they were the next to score...TWICE, tries on the 66 and 73rd minute made chichester think about finishing off the game at 33-21.

However, if the moment needed anyone, it needed Sausage O'Hagan. He swooped on to a well struck kick off that was fumbled by Lewes and powered over from 15m. With that the lads new the final was finished and a sweetly struck conversion by Mitchell took them up 40-21 with 5mins to play.

Scott Carter rounded off a solid performance by dancing his way through the Lewes defence in close support by the return of the goat Phil Dickin to score a super individual try on the 76min and take the game fully out of Lewes' grasp.

Sussex Bowl Champions! 47-21.

I could easily sit here now and reel off how well everyone has played this season, how everyone has contributed significantly to carrying on the unbeaten season and winning the league and cup, this will happen in 2 weeks after the last league game...for now I will just say, how incredibly proud a coach I am to have been involved with a group of lads that listen, want to learn and play with such commitment every week. It makes my job very very easy. Special thanks go to the two Aussie boys Liam Ferguson and Josh Pszconka who had been ill all week,and still had the drive to come and give it their all for the 2s on the Sunday. Thanks.

2 more games to go gents, Basingstoke away on 9th and Bournemouth at home on 16th. Keep training, keep working hard, and lets finished off the season with a big 24-0 next to our names!