Width of the post deny Darts elusive first win

Darts travelled to Chichester looking for their first win of the season and nthey had an unfortunate start when after 10 seconds Matt Randall had to leave the field with a cut eye which allowed Dan Golding to come onto make his debut for the 1st team. Things got worse when a mistake allowed a loose ball, from a good kick through, to stay in play and the sharpness of the Chichester player saw him go over for a converted try. 7-0. Darts responded well and started to get their forwards going with strong driving mauls but the home side were playing at speed moving the ball really well. Great defence from Ollie Edwards and Robbie smith kept them at bay. A great clearing kick from Jonny put Darts on the front foot and a penalty saw play moved inside the home 22. A good take and set up got the driving maul going and it was Steve Garrett who crashed over. Jonny converted to level the score at 7-7. It was a great competition and both teams going for it. A good turnover saw Chichester move the ball wide and when the ball came back the other way a missed tackle created an overlap and a second well taken try for the home team 12-7. The lineout was going well for Darts with lots of options and when Smiler made a greats steal Joe Gills put in a great box kick which found grass and a great chase from Jonny put the defence under pressure and the bounce went Darts way for Jonny to score and level the match again 12-12. Another lineout steal and Gillsy again put in a great box kick which was followed up this time by Kieran Clarke who put in a great hit on the home player allowing Lewis Potter to go over the ball and force a turnover and allow Darts to put further pressure on the home team The defence from Chichester was very good but eventually the penalties mounted and they conceded a yellow card and Jonny was able to give Darts the lead from a pen following some great work from the forwards. 12-15
A great start to the second half from Darts with some good phase play which forced another penalty which jonny converted to stretch the lead to 12-18. Chichester got back into their stride using their backs to great effect running from deep and making inroads into the Darts half . A great clearance from Gillsy pushed play back into the home half but a fantastic break from fly half took play deep into the 22 and the pressure forced a penalty which the home side accepted with 3 points. 15-18. The Darts forwards had really worked well at the tight and in the loose dominating those areas but they lost concentration having won the ball at the scrum and were duly pushed off the ball and conceded a penalty. Despite their lineout not working as well as they would have liked Chichester kicked for the corner and went for their own driving maul which was initially repelled by Darts at the cost of another penalty. Another lineout and driving maul then saw Dan Golding yellow carded for bringing the maul down. Chichester smelt blood and went for the scrum and after a succession of them on the 5 metre line they went through 3 or 4 phases and drove over. 20-18. Straight from the kick off Darts put the home side under pressure giving them no space to clear their lines and this resulted in another penalty which again was converted by Jonny to give darts the lead again. 20-21. Darts again were on the front foot putting the home side under pressure inside their 22 but somehow lost control of the ball which then allowed the home winger to run nearly the length onkly to be stopped by a good covering tackle. Chichester kept control of the ball and an excellent cross field kick opened darts up for the right winger to catch and score and then convert. 27-21. Despite this Darts showed the same spirit as they had last year and fought back really well with Ollie making some good ground and when he kicked for position and chased he was late tackled and Darts kicked for the corner, again it was the lineout take and drive which was a great weapon for the visitors and two of these eventually saw skipper Sam Cooksley go over. Jonny's kick missed narrowly on the left. 27-26. Darts were not finished and pressed back at the Chichester line and the home supporters were looking worried. With good control of the ball at the breakdown and Chichester desperate not to give away a penalty play moved into the home 22 and after manoevering play into the centre of the field the ball was fed to Jonny whose drop goal attempt went over the top of the post and the referee signalled the end of what was a fantastic match.
Disappointing for Darts who came so close but Chichester would have felt robbed if they had lost after putting in a great display themselves and showed the confidence having won a number of games so far this season. The effort the boys put in was fantastic and I am certain that we will get that win soon if we keep this effort going. Man of the match went to Dan Golding for an impressive debut depite being pressed hard by his brother Luke who also put in a great shift.
The welcome from Chichester was as usual fantastic and there is another competition in the league for the best pies which is at the moment being fought by Chichester and London Cornish.
Next week we entertain Beckenham.

The welcome at Chichester was as usual excellent and I think ther eis a competition between them and Londio

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