Derby delight for Elthamians

Blackheath 10 Old Elthamians 21

What a difference five months can make.

The last time these two sides met at Well Hall back in April, Blackheath, on the back of a dominant scrum, were absolutely ruthless in punishing an Elthamians side whose game management let them down at crucial stages.

This time round, the Old Boys had clearly learned the lessons from the previous encounter and they turned the tables with a clinical display with the ball in hand when they needed it most, to secure a deserved victory over their South London rivals.

Head coach Sam Howard had promised a more pragmatic, structured Elthamians side this season and this was evident thoughout a fast and furious, and occasionally fractious, encounter.

Blackheath enjoyed the majority of possession and territory and looked dangerous early on, but as the game progressed, other than the elusive, jinking runs from impressive full-black Elliot Clements-Hill, they seemed to run out of ideas as exactly how to break through the wall of blue and gold shirts.

Elthamians in contrast, bolstered by an outstanding defence, were content to soak up Blackheath pressure, force the turnover and then use the siege gun boot of Tom White to kick for position.

Used as an understudy to Joe Carlisle for much of last season, White (pictured) was back to his best, directing operations calmly at fly-half and ensuring Elthamians played in the right areas of the field. It was a display full of conviction and composure and it allowed his side to strike at pivotal moments.

An enthralling contest then but this was far from a derby day classic. There were far too many unforced errors, dropped balls and turnovers for that, not helped by the regular sound of referee Veryan Boscawen’s whistle, as both sides went at each other from the off.

Blackheath made the early running yet still managed to find themselves 7-0 down after seven minutes following Elthamians’ first meaningful attack. White somehow found a way through a congested midfield with a jinking run before off-loading to lock Freddie Hosking who galloped under the posts, the fly-half converting.

The home side came storming back for the remainder of the half and Elthamians were forced to defend for their lives, pinned in their own 22 for much of it. Their superb defensive effort was epitomised by a 10 minute passage of play before the interval when they were reduced to 13 men following yellow cards to full-back Ben Howard for a deliberate knock on and prop Alex Rogers for a scrum infringement as the Blackheath pack amped up the pressure.

The pressure did eventually tell as lock Neal Patrick forced his way over from close range, converted by Clements-Hill to tie the score 7-7 at half-time. But Elthamians would have been by far the happier of the two sides at the interval to have only conceded one score despite seeing little ball and with two men down.

The home side missed a chance to take the lead a minute after the restart when Clements-Hill pushed a penalty to the right of the posts and it was to prove a costly miss as just six minutes later Elthamians scored their second try.

Blackheath were penalised for taking out the influential Hosking in the air at a lineout - the lock injuring an ankle in the process and played no further part in proceedings - White kicked for the corner and after a series of forward drives, No.8 Ben King forced his way over the line, White again converting.

The home side reduced the deficit with a Clements-Hill penalty on 60 minutes, but when they lost Patrick to the sin bin late on, Elthamians took full advantage.

A lovely break up the left touchline from centre Tom Harding, who enjoyed an impressive afternoon on his first team debut, and taken on by Adam Preocanin gave the visitors great field position in the Blackheath 22.

White missed with a drop goal attempt but in a storming final 10 minutes from the visitors they camped in the Blackheath 22 with a succession of forward drives. Eventually from a lineout five metres out, captain Hamish Barton was able to charge for the line unopposed to seal the victory.

SCORERS:
Blackheath
Try: Patrick (37)
Con: Clements-Hill (38)
Pens: Clements-Hill (60)

Old Elthamians:
Tries: Hosking 7, King 45, Barton 79
Cons: White 8, 46, 62

Old Elthamians: Howard, Golledge, A Brown, Harding, Hotston, White, Claxton; Rogers, Morris, Scutt, Hosking, Preocanin, Ledger, Barton, King. Subs: L Brown, Rudland-Thomas, Messum, Parker, Surman.

Yellow Cards: Howard, Rogers

Referee: Veryan Boscawen