Beckenham travelled down to Chichester in high spirits off the back of a maiden victory in London 1 against London Cornish.
The first half began positively for Beckenham. With reassuring phase play of the kick off. However, a lapse in concentration at the breakdown allowed Chichester an opportunity to get points on the board after a matter of minutes. This was the trend throughout the duration of the first half, with Beckenham unable to get a foothold in the game due to poor discipline. Chichester’s first try came after just 6 minutes. Beckenham looking to reply after the early penalty, attacked wide in the Chichester half. A slippery ball however was spilled straight into the hands of the Chichester defender who went the length of the field to score, with the 12, who has a very good day off the tee, converting.

Over the next 10 minutes Beckenham conceded 2 more penalties after relentless pressure from the home side and Beckenham were struggling to get a foothold in the match. on 17 minutes a second try came for Chichester, who utilized phase play well to go over out wide. The 12 once again converting. The only aspect of the game Beckenham had the upper hand was up front, with the Beckenham scrum and lineout working well, although Beckenham were failing to utilise this advantage effectively.

23-0 down, Beckenham once again looked to have a mountain to climb. Looking to get a foothold in the game, Louis Richards was unable to convert a penalty on 20 minutes. Beckenham’s job was made even harder when Henry Kenny was sent to the bin after an accumulation of penalties resulted in a team yellow. The Chichester 12 fortunately however missing the resulting penalty. Beckenham’s defence over the next 10 minutes was commendable, given the man disadvantage. However, with Sam Forrest on for Henry Kenny, the replacement was soon sent to the bin, leaving Beckenham down to 14 for half of the first 40.

This disadvantage told towards the end of the half, with Chichester’s third try which came right on the whistle. Beckenham short in defence, left a gap for the 9 to snipe through. With the 2 points added, Beckenham went in to half time trailing 30-0.

The second half, was like a completely different game. Beckenham came flying out the blocks and it was Chichester who looked like they would have been 30 points down. Just 4 minutes into the half Beckenham scored. Captain Andrew Knowles dotting down off the back of 30-meter maul. Richards wide with the conversion.

With this Beckenham looked to be getting into their stride and supporters may have been thinking back to the comeback against Havant a few weeks previously. However, Beckenham struggled to play to the conditions and although they were camped in the Chichester half for most of the second half, the away side lacked the clinical edge that Chichester had shown in the first.

After 20 minutes of Chichester defending the referee finally brought out a card, with the 2 going to the bin after numerous Chichester penalties. Supporters would have been hoping this would give Beckenham the opportunity to score, but to Chichester’s credit they defended well and kept Beckenham at bay. Although handling errors in attack were probably more to blame!

With a couple of minutes remaining, Chichester had their first attack of the second half. The story of this game would be exemplified in the fact Chichester had 1 second half chance, which they scored from to secure the full five points. The home side would have been frustrated at not securing a try bonus point given their first half performance and scored in the corner after a slip in the Beckenham defence.

FT 37-5 to Chichester.

Overall Chichester were deserving winners, taking their chances while Beckenham were unable to take theirs. Beckenham have once again shown they are more than capable at testing the best sides in this league, but need to play for the full 80 minutes, rather than just the second half if they want to climb up the table. We look forward to hosting Chichester later in the season!

This coming Saturday Beckenham welcome Westcombe Park to Fortress Balmoral for the 125 anniversary game. This weekend promises to be a huge weekend for the club with a day packed full of festivities, going on late into the night. There will be a huge crowd down to support on Saturday, so come along and support the boys in this huge local derby!