Blackheath 12 Tonbridge Juddians 16: National League 1 match report

By David Challis

Tonbridge Juddians claimed their first away win of the season with a 16-12 success at Blackheath in National League 1.

The travelling support could have been forgiven for doing so more in hope, rather than expectation, but bottom-of-the-table TJs upset the odds and made amends for their 23-21 home defeat by Blackheath in October.

Despite Storm Eunice and the rain that followed, the conditions had eased slightly, apart from a wind that favoured the hosts in the first half.

They led within 15 minutes, hammering at the TJs line after Judds failed to clear. Eventually, an inside ball off the fly-half was enough to open up a gap and Blackheath raced through with the try converted for a 7-0 lead.

TJs responded well, however, and began to build pressure through a series of penalties that quickly turned into yellow cards for Blackheath. At one stage the hosts found themselves down to 13, but despite this kept TJs from scoring.

However the visitors did level thanks to clever play from Tom White.

White's hoisted ball was tricky to deal with, and when it bounced he did brilliantly to regather the kick and drop the ball onto his boot. Kicking towards the corner, Harvey Young was there to stab it on further and dot down, with White adding the extras.

Buoyed by their try, Judds began the second half in the ascendancy, dominating the penalty count which resulted in an early three points from White.

However, TJs began to make errors in the middle of the park and Blackheath took advantage out wide, but a missed conversion left Tonbridge trailing by two points instead of four.

This setback kickstarted Judds back into life and they won a penalty on the 10m line. White stepped up to convert and he extended the lead further