Petersfield 3rd XV (52) v Southsea Nomads 2rd XV (10)

Right from the kick-off, Petersfield found their form with strong running and sublime offloading between backs and forwards. With the ever youthful Steve Dryden, John Ray and Adam Coyte leading the forwards from the front, Gary ‘Woody’ Harfield continuing his masterful display of quick feet at scrum-half and tremendous linking with Fly-half Alex ‘The Cakemaker’ Groves, Petersfield were continuously breaking the game line. With the young ‘man of the match’ Sam Rushmer and ‘Field Captain Julian ‘The Silver-Fox’ Blanks in the centres, the pressure soon told as the game line breaks started to produce scoring opportunities. In only his second game, Frank Spooner opened the try scoring after taking an offload from second row Alex Patience, he went on a mazy run going under the posts. As the excellent referee continued to play advantage for both teams, the offloading continued and, despite some fantastic defence by Southsea, the try line was crossed four more times – Groves (2), Rushmer and Blanks. For the last ten minutes of the first half, a mixture of sloppy play by ‘Field and attacking pressure by Southsea ended in two unconverted tries. Half-time score: 31-10.

From the start of the second half, it mirrored the start of the game but defences became more prominent with only three additional scores – both Groves and Rushmer completing their hatricks. As the final whistle was blown, there was recognition between both teams of another good, hard game and a best of 3 match would need to be organized.

Final Score: 52-10

Try: Spooner, Blanks, Rushmer (3), Groves (3)
Conversions: Groves (6)

Team: Adam Coyte, Dave Cosway, Bill Glancy, Alex Patience, Steve Dryden, John Ray, Gary Harfield, Alex Groves, Julian Blanks, Sam Rushmer, Pete Mays, Frank Spooner, Robbie Bales.