Blackheath Vs Taunton Titans

From a Taunton perspective all the post-match comments stating that was the best Blackheath had played all season would have been better had they been deferred for a week or two and not been so glaringly obvious to any neutral supporter of rugby football, writes Dick Macey.     The plain facts were that aside from a very lively first fifteen minutes when the Titans took the game to the home side with some determination and were rewarded with a debut try by winger Shai Bonnick, the Taunton boys found themselves having to scrap for opportunities to put something together with the ball in their hands such was the ferocity and intensity of Black heath's drive to take the game buy the scruff of the neck.

Around the 30 minute mark Titan's hooker, Alex Spurdle, wriggled over for a try, converted by Gary Kingdom,  following a rolling maul, but this led to an immediate response from the swift-moving Blackheath backs who began to turn up the gas with swift hand work and pacy penetration and by half time The Club(as they are known) had established a 24-12 lead and by then they had demonstrated they were not to be denied.  

The home side began the second session by dashing any hope of the Titans clawing their way back into contention by demonstrating a ferocious commitment to defence, thus reducing the Taunton lads to having to live off scraps and the more they chased the game as it progressed then the more mistakes crept into their game.  "Sniffer" Dalton did offer a glimmer of hope as he went over for a try following another successful Titans rolling maul, converted by Gary Kingdom, but it was a false dawn and as the clock wound down so Blackheath's relish for their new-found form became more and more apparent.   Their "man of the match," a former Taunton player. scrum half Ollie Claxton,  proved the destroyer as he set up wave after wave of pacy Blackheath attacks, always with venom and difficult to defend against as the Titans found.   It was not as i four boys were outclassed, they were just worn down by The Club's sparkling display of attacking rugby and although The Taunton pack were the equal of their opponents it was the backs who were really stretched and found difficulty in containing Blackheath's drive.

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