Gravesend left Chobham with smiles all round after securing first win

Gravesend got off to a solid start and it was obvious from the beginning of the game that they were going to be the team in control. Soon after the referee’s whistle, Chobham found themselves under pressure near their 22-metre line as the G’s worked a threatening attack, steaming into their opponents early on. The positive start from Gravesend resulted in an early penalty and Rhys Betts put three points on the scoreboard after five minutes of gameplay. Chobham hardly had the ball to start with and Gravesend’s forwards put on a good show of strength when they won a turnover just as the home side started to work on an attack. However, as the first quarter came to an end, Chobham levelled the scores with a penalty of their own. G’s responded with high intensity and worked through the phases until Chobham were penalised for a high tackle. This time, G’s opted for the lineout on the five-metre line but Chobham stood their ground and won a turnover. Gravesend soon had possession again and the forwards did superbly in the scrum, pushing Chobham back to win a penalty on the 22-metre line. From this, G’s went for touch and got the ball moving in a driving maul after the lineout. Cameron Wilkins dived on the ball after the forwards worked well to set up Gravesend’s first try. Betts got the conversion making the score 3-10. As the game hit the half-hour mark, Chobham scored a similar try to Gravesend after they won a penalty and opted for touch. The hosts went wide after the lineout to find the try line. G’s were under a bit of pressure during the end of the half as one of their kicks was charged down but the ball found touch and the forwards worked well to secure possession at the lineout once more. Gravesend won another penalty before half time and the score was 8-13 at the break.

The second half started well for Chobham as Jayde Cruikshank and Alec Thompson both shared penalties which took the hosts into the lead 14-13. It wasn’t long before G’s regained their lead after being awarded a penalty of their own and Betts made sure to get the ball between the posts. As the last quarter approached, Gravesend were in a dominant position once again, putting more pressure on their opponents with a lineout on the 22-metre line after being awarded another penalty. After another superb driving maul from the forwards, Brad Smith got on top of the ball to extend the visitors’ lead. The try was converted making it 14-23. During the last ten minutes of the game, Gravesend won a scrum near Chobham’s try line and sent the ball from left to right with some strong attacking phases from both the forwards and backs. Ashley Frampton found a gap and surged towards the try line popping it back to Smith who went down for his second try of the game. The score stood at 17-30 as the game was near the end but Chobham kept their heads and made an attack after Andrew Hampshire was sent to the sin bin. The hosts took a quick tap and go and battled their way towards the try line. It was their prop Rebwar Abdoullahi who kept their hopes alive with a try followed by a conversion by Thompson. Gravesend were under a lot of pressure as the game came to a close and Chobham had one last chance to steal a late win. However, the ball was knocked on and Gravesend secured the scrum which ended the pressure. This was a good note for the forwards to end on as the game finished at 24-30 to Gravesend.