A strong Ditchling squad welcomed a much-changed Crawley team to The Sty for the return league match. With only 2 points separating the teams, and the previous encounter ending in a draw, this was a game both teams were eager to win.

From the kick off Ditchling began with a fast tempo, launching their backs at every opportunity. Crawley found themselves on the back foot and 5 minutes into the game, from a quickly taken free kick, the ball was passed through along the back line to Nick Whitely-Jones to run around the defence and score the first try of the match.
Whitely-Jones converted his own try for a 7:0 lead.

Ditchling continued to dominate possession for the next half hour. The forwards made good yards and as soon as the ball went to ground it was quickly spread wide through the backs. Crawley’s defence held firm but the continual pressure led to them to concede a penalty on the 20 minute mark 20 yards out. Whitely Jones duly converted, which was repeated at the 30-minute mark giving Ditchling a 13:0.

Crawley are a team who will punish you if you give them any momentum and this was to prove the case 5 minutes before the end of the half. After a couple of scrums where they pushed Ditchling back with ease, their heads were up and they took this momentum through a series of rucks to power over and reduce the score to 13:7.

A minute later a mistake in the Crawley backs led to a kick through and collect by Jamie Hutchings. He then quickly passed onto Will Bradley who outpaced the defence and score in the corner.
Continued pressure led to Crawley being penalised and a yellow card shown. From the ensuing penalty, a break up field by the impressive Jarrell Bobo feeding Whitely-Jones to go over for his second try.

HT Ditchling 25 Crawley 7

Into the second half and Ditchling maintained the momentum from the first half. A storming run by Bobo led to quick hands through the backs onto Bradley to score in the corner for his second of the game. An excellent side line conversion from Whitely-Jones took the score to 32:7.

At the 15min mark Crawley began to wrestle control back and make better use of their backs. This led to gradual gains into Ditchling territory and eventually their prop dived over from short range for their second try.

From here the game became more evenly contested but Ditchling refused to concede territory or momentum. All 15 players were committed in defence and the replacements fitted in well. The scrums became more even although it remained difficult to get clean lineout ball.
In the 65th minute the backs launched another attack leading to Whitely-Jones making a 50-meter run and score the final try. Another excellent conversion gave Ditchling a 39:14 scoreline.
The final 15 minutes were played out with both teams remaining committed and eager. A ‘team’ yellow card given to the influential Hutchings at the 70-minute mark did not stop the pack from keeping Crawley at bay. With no further scores the final whistle gave Ditchling a well deserved win and move them above Crawley into 5th place in the league table.
Crawley played with passion and commitment throughout making it a good spirited game. Ditchling showed they can play for the full 80 minutes with a tempo that rarely dropped off. It was particularly encouraging to see further improvements both collectively and individually throughout the team.
Next week Ditchling travel to Shoreham who currently occupy 4th position in the league.

FT: Ditching 39 Crawley 14

Scorers
Tries: Nick Whitely-Jones (3), Will Bradley (2)
Con: Nick Whitely-Jones (4)
Pens: Nick Whitely-Jones (2)
MoM: Jarrell Bobo

Link to photos (Crawley photographer John Walton): https://www.flickr.com/photos/john-walton/albums/72177720322744868/with/54323277110