Scrappy win keeps the ball rolling!
24 Oct 09 Petersfield 1st XV 45 v 5 Fareham Heathens
In ideal conditions of light wind and sunny periods following enough rain just to soften the pitches to take a stud at Penns Place on Saturday Petersfield entertained Fareham Heathens and a sizable touchline and balcony crowd to a Hampshire One League fixture which followed the presentation of a cheque for £3,000 raised by the club in August for Help for Heroes.
Petersfield started quickly out of the blocks, to score in the first minute, a well worked try which saw scrum half Butcher work the ball from a ruck via prop Butcher to fly half Barnes who ran in from the opposition's 22 to score under the post and duly converted 7-0
This wake up call to Heathens sent them on the attack for several minutes in which one of their pack received an injury to his calf that meant a retirement to the bench. The watching crowd were dismayed to see that Fareham had travelled without replacements so the Field 15 were now up against 14 of the opposition however for more than 10 minutes Field made little headway despite crossing the Heathens Try-line twice but on both occasions referee Pizii spotted an infringement from twenty metres away, which disallowed the score. Twenty minutes from kick off Field manage to get winger Wilks motoring for him to touch down for a try which Barns was unable to improve 12-0
A further 15 minutes of dogged defence by Heathens and the penalty count against Petersfield approaching double figures introduced a period of near stalemate when from a lineout on the oppositions 10 metre line Field worked the ball wide towards the left wing when the final pass found Full Back Nick Lewis joining the line to charge over for a try which was not converted 17-0
Heathens, playing the half with the benefit of both slope and wind, had kicked out of defence all half and on the 38th minute benefited from a Field knock on for a scrum on Fields 22. With another Heathens injury they were down to 13 but at this scrum Heathens had the shove on and from this they scored their first points, which they were unable to convert and at the whistle for half time Field led Heathens 17-5.
The second half was a contest between Petersfield and Referee Pizii with Fareham mostly playing a supporting role. The penalty count against Field must have reached the upper tens and they apparently continued to infringe at any breakdown much to the concern of the coaches and spectators.
Despite this unique refereeing Field were able to score 28 points from tries by Nick Lewis (2) George Saunders (1) and Sam Wilks (1) and 6 points from the improving boot of Barnes. Petersfield are delighted to record their 5th victory in 6 matches but from the position of a reporter of the matches so far this season they have, perhaps, been unlucky to play 5 out of 6 games officiated by referees who are being assessed by their society mentors, a situation which often lends its self to a stuttering game dominated by the official's whistle. It can only be hoped that very soon the match training and observation of the officials will draw a close for the season and free running rugby with advantage is restored to the pitches of the Hampshire 1 League.
