Petersfield had originally faced two games in the weekend, but with Aldershot crying off with a waterlogged pitch, some of the pressure eased. The coaches had a selection based on fielding two sides over the weekend, and although facing opposition riding high in the league above, head coach Tony Barnes decided to go with his original selection for the Sunday XV and to give some new faces serious trial against stern opposition.

If the end result didn’t go ‘Field’s way, the “raison d’etre” had its own reward. Bruce Shields showed he has a lot to offer at centre, a position in which the home team are going to want to have depth as they approach the play-offs and the prospect of gaining a promotion place for next year.

But the best of the day was young Andy Barnes. A modest, quiet young man, who does not seek the adulation of the crowd, he happily moved into the No.10 shirt, giving James Flett a chance to let his knee injury recover, scored Petersfield’s try, kicked their goals and took his personal tally to over 300 points for the season. He has now scored 304 in 19 games, of which 254 have come in 16 league games, where his personal points tally is greater than that of six of the teams in the league. He is happy to attribute much of his success to his canny father’s instinct in moving him to outside centre and to the willingness of his teammates in giving him room in which to play and to grow. (It will be interesting to se how a Shields / Barnes axis might work in the future).

Petersfield approached this fixture with a desire to test their ability against Sandown at the level to which they aspire for next season. The poor conditions and potential lack of familiarity between some of the players could have resulted in trouble for the hosts, but pre-match preparations were encouraging, and the red-and-whites started the game with clear intent that an upset could be on the cards. If Petersfield had struggled at the start, it was perhaps because they took a while to come to terms with the faster paced, fifteen-man rugby typical of the league above.

Set pieces worked well, and the visitors were initially deprived of the quality possession they required to unleash their strong ball carriers. The home defence did crack momentarily, and Sandown and Shanklin showed a glimpse of their potential by converting this for the first try of the game from Pier, converted by Ride.

Petersfield plugged away, working tenaciously to grind their way towards the visitors' try line, with strong forward charges led by their powerful back-row, but were given a lesson in defensive organisation by their well-drilled guests, who seemed capable of quickly providing advantages in numbers both on attack and defence. Indeed, only scrambling defence from the home backline prevented subsequent scores.

'Field forced their way back into game, playing really well, believing in their own ability. They controlled the second quarter and began to exert pressure of their own. From a scrum in the Slopes’ twenty-two, a No.8 pick up by Ian Palmer let scrum half James Martin – how good to see him back in action – carry into the face of the defence and Andy Barnes cut back on a switch to score, make the conversion and the score was 7-7.

Petersfield piled on the pressure; now realising that really their visitors exalted rating held no real fears for them. They kept up the pressure on, forced a penalty from Sandown and Barnes scored again from a penalty to give the home team a 10-7 advantage at half time.

The second half began well, with Petersfield maintaining the pressure, dominating territory and possession. However, they fell into a tight game, constantly trying to drive around the fringes, and whilst there was a huge effort, the disciplined visiting defence was on top. Indeed Sandown always looked composed, the legacy perhaps of playing continually at a higher level. Also smart on the counter attack, they levelled from a penalty well-struck by Neadle to level the scores at 10-10.

Petersfield can be proud of the intensity displayed for the majority of the game and with fifteen minutes to go and the scores level at 10-10, extra time seemed a distinct possibility. Eventually however, the organisation and fitness of the away team paid dividends. Some nice handling dissected the Petersfield defence, which had run itself ragged. From a turnover Sandown moved the ball swiftly upfield and away from the defence, something Petersfield have been very adept at this season in their Hampshire-based campaign. Flanker Black feed their centre Gaung who put flyhalf Chyne away to score in the corner, a winning try at 10 –15 and the visitors were on their way to a final.

'Field will be disappointed that a chance to take a higher league scalp escaped their grasp, but can take great heart in providing a stern test and proving that they can live at this level should they secure promotion from their league campaign.

Coach Barnes was delighted with the effort from the side, if a bit disappointed that they couldn’t change the approach in the second half as they’d had discussed at half time. But the interest now turns to the difficult home tie against Southampton next weekend, the occasion marked by Petersfield RFC’s annual VPs’ lunch. In front of one of the biggest crowds of the season, the red-an’-whites will want to avenge their defeat in the Test Valley where they allowed a 7-8 half time score to slip into defeat 13-7. For sure, there’ll be fireworks and Petersfield will want to continue their league-winning ways.

Incidentally, it was great insight to the sporting nature of the rivalry between league leaders Alton and the Penns Place club, when a message arrived on Saturday from Anstey skipper Jim Gay, himself a former Petersfield Colt. “Please,” he begged “please, Andy, ask your guys to rein in their try scoring – we can’t catch on the points difference with you.” Nice touch, then Alton went out on Saturday and stuck 72 points on Fareham Heathens! All to play for then, and no pressure.