Richmond 23 Blackheath 20

Recent weeks have seen Blackheath edge to wins in a few tight games (the last four by eight points or fewer), so perhaps the rugby gods deemed the Club about due to be on the wrong end of a narrow result.

Sure enough, Dave Allen’s 74th minute try brought to life the final moments of a sodden afternoon at the Athletic Ground, as Richmond probed the Club’s goal-line for a fourth try (a score which would have denied Blackheath their losing consolation point), followed by the visitors attempting, in vain, break out of their twenty-two in search of an unlikely victory.  

The truth however is that, for the most part, Blackheath were second best against their old foe, and a bigger margin of victory wouldn't have flattered the Surrey side.

In many ways Blackheath were masters of their own downfall.  The opening salvoes saw a poorly judged kick, a knock-on and, more crucially, a soft penalty for collapsing which enabled lock-forward Charles Lenygon to take ball from Richmond’s smoothly functioning line-out, and Jack Allcock to drive across for the game’s first try on just six minutes.

Blackheath suffered a further early blow with the loss of Freddie Gabbitass to an ankle injury but, in his first start, Leo Fielding assumed the kicking duties with a well-struck penalty.  And although the full-back missed with an over-ambitious kick to touch, two further attempts found their mark, the second of which saw Tom Baldwin drive close before Simon Whatling cut a line through the Richmond defence for a converted try and a 10-5 lead.

However, it was the only time Blackheath would hold the advantage.  As the visitors’ discipline faltered once again and ground was conceded, Allcock was driven across in a repeat performance of his first effort (the flanker’s ninth try of the season) and on half-time number-eight Chris Davies powered over from the base of a five-metre scrum which, with full-back Rob Kirby adding the conversion, saw Richmond 17-10 ahead at the break.

A 50th minute line-out infringement enabled Kirby to extend the lead, only for Fielding to drag it back to seven points on the hour as Richmond fell off-side, but Blackheath frequently lost possession in the tight phases and failed to penetrate outside the set-piece.

Richmond, on the other hand, got far closer to the goal-line with their forays, forcing the best out of the visitors’ defence, but just as Blackheath were relieving heavy pressure in the 70th minute, and freshening up their pack with front-row replacements, a scrum infringement in front of the uprights conceded to Kirby the crucial goal.

Not for the first time in this campaign, it took an injection of pace from Geoff Griffiths to force Blackheath up a gear, and as the wing’s line break took the visitors into a rare second half excursion to the Richmond twenty-two, Allen was driven across to give hope.

But not this time, and the Club’s winning spree, which had stretched to eight matches, is at an end.

Next Saturday Blackheath welcome Plymouth Albion to Rectory Field for their first visit in nearly 15 years.  Kick-off is at 3.00 pm.

Richmond

Tries:    Allcock 2, Davies
Conv:    Kirby 
Pens:    Kirby 2

Blackheath

Tries:    Whatling, Allen
Conv:    Fielding 2
Pens:    Fielding 2