Destruction of Dover is no cliffhanger for Chichester

The Blues’ team spirit was obvious again and in the end they won handsomely by seven tries, two conversions and a penalty to three converted tries.

It was nip and tuck until the interval but then Chichester pulled away to complete their ninth consecutive win.

They are joint second and the chance of a play-off for promotion probably lies between them and London Irish. Neither can afford to lose any of their remaining games.

Chichester were without Scott Barlow but fielded a strong squad. The pitch was heavy and the players had to cope with clinging mud in places.

The home team swarmed into attack from kick-off. They hammered the Dover defence and were rewarded with two copybook tries by hooker Rob Lawrence after lineout catches by Nick Blount followed by driving mauls.

One wide-out conversion was put away by Richard Adams, the other hit a post and rebounded.

So, 12-0 after 12 minutes and Moses Kasujja, Chris Johnson, Eddie Armah and Jack Smallman had all gone close.

Dover showed their pedigree by keeping tight and they arrived at the Chichester 22 to launch their rolling maul. Two lineouts and another roll led to the unfortunate Phil Veltom being dismissed for ten minutes for pulling the maul down. It was a case of mistaken identity.

Dover took advantage from a scrum, drawing in the central defence for powerhouse Mackintosh to touch down between the posts. Fly-half Beaumont converted.

Chichester resumed the offensive but a Dover clearance kick was spilt bacwards on the slippery surface. The ball was seized and kicked long, Beaumont winning the race to gather and score, converting his own try.

This was a shock to the Blues, but they lifted again and Billy Toone kicked cleverly to the right corner. A defender fumbled and was penalised for holding on. The tap penalty was quickly taken and Ross Fairbairn dived across the line to make it 17-14.

There were fascinating battles going on, but all well disciplined. In lineouts it was Blount and Johnson against Tonks and Blowers. The back rows were well matched and knew each other well. They fought tooth and nail for possession, while up front props Nick Shopland and Veltom used all their strength.

Lock Jon Lindsay carried effectively and crunching tackles all over the pitch made spectators wince – but it was totally absorbing.

Smallman took a deep pass on the Dover 22 and ran a promising line but was tackled out with five metres to go. The backs moved the ball right to give Paul Todd a sniff but he was also forced out by stout defence.