Chobham 26 Tottonians 49 – report

by Richard Isaacs | Apr 6, 2025 | Senior Rugby

Tottonians finished their league season with a flourish, crossing seven times in an eventually clinical performance to down mid-table Chobham 49-26 on a gloriously sunny afternoon in Surrey.

CHOBHAM 26 TOTTONIANS 49
Fowlers Wells, Chobham
Saturday 5th April 2025
Regional 2 South Central – match 22

It wasn’t all plain sailing though as the visitors were predominantly on the back foot for much of the first half hour, often through trying too hard to stamp their authority, causing handling errors, but mainly courtesy of their high penalty count.

On the dry surface, despite the pitch being watered prior to the start, it was the perfect day for a free-flowing running contest between the two sides in fourth and seventh in the table.

Totts were reduced to 14 men for the first time in the game within the first 15 minutes when Nic Jansen bore the wrath of the referee, he being the latest to offend so off he went for a short break as Chobham were hitting the Totts line.

And it was the hosts who opened the scoring. From the subsequent line-out, Totts defence held firm until Ben Puttock drove over from close range, Guy Mawhood adding the extras to give them a deserved early lead.

It didn’t take long for parity to be restored.

Totts received a penalty in their own 22 and from it, the ball was sprung into the midfield where Ethan Riley placed an inch-perfect chip ahead which found the on-rushing Josh Raqio to collect – with the help of a very handy bounce. He would kick ahead and chase down, offloading to Liam Murphy who found Jamie Laing in space on the inside for the simple finish. Robbie Searle slotting the first of his seven conversations of the afternoon.

The home side hit the front again. With Totts continuing to be on the wrong side of the official, they were hit with three penalties in a row close to their line. From the third, which was kicked to within five metres of the line, they collected, swung the ball out wide only for Josh Raqio’s errant hand to intercept a pass, knocking on. The referee had no choice but to send the winger to the bin and award the penalty try.

Totts response, just before the break, was messy but effective. In the midfield, Chobham attempted a chip ahead which was blocked by Jansen’s behind! The ball was hacked forward which Rich O’Donnell chased and found the on-rushing skipper Liam Murphy to pounce and drop over the line in acres of space.

There was still time for Totts to add a third before the half-time interval. Directly from the kick-off, O’Donnell caught the restart, recycling well. Searle’s brilliant chip and chase was superbly regathered by the veteran and set up an excellent attacking position which Harry Dolbear took advantage of to slice through to score.

Searle made no mistake with the conversation, giving Totts a 21-14 lead at the break, a good effort considering they had played much of the first half with 14 players on the pitch and much on the back foot.

The second half was much better from a Tottonians point of view – considerably less penalty concessions and some exciting, free flowing rugby, which the large crowd – containing plenty of visiting support – throughly enjoyed.

The ball was flying through the hands of the attacking visitors and it was too much for Chobham, who were reduced to 14 five metres out with a sinbinning.

From the scrum that followed, another impressive move saw the ball spread wide to Searle, who sidestepped the defender and crashed over for the bonus point score. He would also slot the conversion from the wide angle.

And the lead was further extended shortly afterwards when the ball emerged from the side of a Chobham scrum and was quickly gathered by the Totts back row. Some great handling from through forwards and backs opened up a huge hole for replacement hooker Kevin Raqio to sprint a full 30 metres, breaking a couple of tackles, to score next to the posts.

Try number six came soon afterwards – and it really did come out of nowhere! Totts had a line-out five metres out, which Chobham intercepted but the knock-back went into the goal area. Lock Sam Goddard tried to run it out but was tackled by Jansen and captain Murphy was on hand to dot down from the Chobham man’s spillage.

Chobham did hit back with try tries of their own to cut the arrears and make the last few minutes interesting but Josh Raqio would ensure that there would be no late dramatics.

Totts were awarded a penalty on their own 10 metre line and some quick thinking from the winger found acres of space for him to sprint the full distance and score under the posts to cap off a seven-try display for the visitors and see them close with 85 league points – a second highest tally in a 22-match campaign.

TOTTONIANS POINT SCORERS:
2 tries – Liam Murphy (sponsored by Osman Originals)
1 try – Jamie Laing (sponsored by Mr. Bob Millard)
1 try – Robbie Searle (sponsored by R & M Electrical Group Ltd)
1 try – Harry Dolbear (sponsored by W J French & Sons)
1 try – Kev Raqio (sponsored by Mr. Ray Hall)
1 try – Josh Raqio (sponsored by MJG Mechanical & Electrical)
7 conversions – Robbie Searle (sponsored by R & M Electrical Group Ltd)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH ALEX ROBINSON and COACH PHIL OSMAN REVIEW THE GAME