Slice it Chubby!!!
28 Nov 09 Petersfield Vet's 17 v 31 Alton 2nds
Petersfield Vets 17 – 31 Alton 2nds
Ahead of next weeks Veterans Cup Final, Petersfield were looking forward to a run out against Alton Vets as an opportunity to tweak a few combinations and finalise the places for the cup squad. As it happened however, both sides suffered from player unavailability preventing Petersfield fielding their likely cup team and Alton having to come over with what was billed as a “Mixed Team”.
From the off Field were on the back foot and the first ten minutes saw the quicker younger Alton back line running in 14 unanswered points. The first try came from a break by the Alton left wing who ran through some pretty ineffective tackling to go under the posts which was then quickly followed by and almost carbon copy score. The curse of the slow starts had struck again for the veteran side.
With quick ball the Petersfield back line have been really pressurising their opposition this season and some excellent tries have been scored. This match should have been no exception but quick ball was all too rare on Saturday and only once in the first half did the home side breach the Alton line. Some good work by Dyer and Dryden with excellent support from Hipsey, getting a rare chance at 7 due to skipper Kent taking the 2 shirt, created a platform for “Slow Hands” Harfield to set the backline in motion. The untested combination of Groves, Jordan and, Higson started to make some in roads in to the Alton defence. Petersfield worked there way deep into the visitors 22 and good work again from Dryden and Hipsey saw them crossover for a try with Groves adding the extras.
Although the final score line may not necessarily reflect it, the second half was a much closer affair. Petersfield were not going to give up their recent good run of results easily and really started to put their opposite numbers under a lot of pressure in the set piece and the loose.
The pressure was beginning to tell and Alton were playing a lot of the game on the back foot however after a messy passage of play in the midfield the young Alton hooker kicked through on a dropped ball only to knock on under the posts. This somewhat fortuitous error allowed Field to drive back up field and only a dubious decision by the referee, let’s say he was unsighted, denied Harfield from receiving his just desserts after grounding the ball in the corner from a ruck. Not to be undone Field secured possession from the subsequent scrum and Groves powered over from short range to bring the home team to within 2 points 12-14, unfortunately he could not add the extras to his score.
It was the visitors who then took their opportunities well. Having brought on what appeared to be some even younger looking players their youthful pace created a few holes in the home defence. Some quick ball and a sweet line break saw the Alton right wing offloading to the very mobile hooker, making amends for his foul up earlier, to cross over and stretch the lead even further 12-21. A silly penalty from an infringement at the ruck then gave them an easily kickable penalty to stretch the lead to 12- 24. Never ones to give up, and despite being 25 years a man older than their opposite numbers, Petersfield came back hard and strong to breach the Alton defences again for a third but unconverted try, 17-24. Hope springs eternal as they say and Field kept up the pressure determined to secure the draw if nothing else but a mistake in midfield and another loose ball let the fleet footed Alton backs in again for a try under the posts to secure the win.
The report this week would not be complete without mentioning the debut of Matt Phillips who having never played rugby before in his life took to the field with 20 minutes to go and gave an assured performance including one of the deftest little back door offloads ever to grace Penns Place. Matt didn’t make the most auspicious start as during the pre-match preliminaries when asked by the referee to see his boots, Matt turned to face him, pointed his toes and said “here they are”, bless. It should also be noted that Nick Atkinson was the victim of some unscrupulous shenanigans in the scum and after remonstrating politely with his opposite number in an almost Austenesque manner was subsequently invited to take a 10 minutes rest behind the posts.
Next week the Vets travel to Havant for the Final of the John Sneezum Hampshire Veterans Cup. Kick off is at 1200 sharp at the Hooks Lane ground so please come and lend your support, it should be quite a tasty game.
