A bonus point win for Petersfield secured Fifth place in Regional 2 South Central League an
admirable achievement for the players and the club while competing at the highest league
level, level six, ever reached by the Penns Place based team.

The long, almost 90 mile journey, was rewarded arriving at North Dorset’s Slaughtergate
ground, Gillingham Dorset in a picturesque setting with good facilities and a match pitch of
excellent quality. Apart from a brisk breeze making conditions slightly difficult for both teams,
though the home side were preconditioned to the fact that their hilltop ground is often windy.

Petersfield squad was dealt a blow with twenty four hours’notice, as fly half Brad Caparo, pulled out, forcing some reshuffling of the back line Matt McLean taking the ten shirt, Toby Colwood, from the bench, twelve, Tom Land moving to outside centre. On the bench George Davis replaced Colwood and colt Chase Thomas replaced Oli Hunt as his injury rehabilitation had not progressed satisfactorily.

From the kick off Petersfield showed their intent and as a home team supporter commented
later “accepted the home team’s invitation to play most of their rugby in the host’s twenty
two”. Disappointingly Petersfield’s season long passing and catching woes resulted in a
failure to string together any meaningful passages of play until North Dorset, attempting to
run out of their own twenty two, were penalised for holding on and on eighteen minutes
scum half Joe Knowles slotted the penalty. 0-3

From a lineout on the host’s ten metre line Petersfield passed the ball slickly through five
pairs of hands to the left wing with the hosts back tracking for defensive cover. The final pass
went to Tom Land who stepped through the first tackler, shaped to pass to Miles Sampson
on the left wing and seeing a narrow gap in the defence dummied and sprinted through on
an acute angle to round the post to dot down under the crossbar. Joe Knowles successful
conversion improving the score 0-10

From another lineout which Petersfield knocked on and North Dorset fly hacked for the ball
to go into touch. The second lineout was taken cleanly and the pack trundled up field to
within ten metres of the try line. Prop Dan Sargent, looking for his twentieth try of the season
and the one that would see him win Dan Luff’s season opening wager of a “cow” for a prize,
bullocked his way to the line, his momentum and assistance from members of the pack, had
him safely ground the ball for Joe Knowles to improve. 0-17

Petersfield trying to run out of defence were penalised for holding on which handed over
possession. North Dorset kicked to the corner and won their lineout, they built up some
phases and broke through Field’s defence to dot down…7-17

Charlie Muir was next to score after Liam Perkins broke from a maul, ball in hand and
opened up a series of passes that all stuck, until Muir joined the line from fullback and using
his considerable pace streaked down the right touch to dot down. With a narrow angle and a
strong wind Joe Knowles was unsuccessful with the conversion and with halftime called the
score was North Dorset 7-22 Petersfield.

During this period of play Karter Whittock Petersfield’s excellent and industrious back row
had received a yellow card so for ten minutes the visitors were down to fourteen players.

After the restart Petersfield were in possession and number eight Liam Perkins pouched the
ball thirty metres from the try line. Charging at the home defence he sold a magnificent
dummy pass which opened the defence for his own unopposed gallop to touch down under
the post for a fourth and bonus point converted try. 7-29

North Dorset opened their second half account with a scrambled try in the right corner which
was unconverted. With Whittock restored left wing Miles Sampson was sent for ten minutes
rest for not releasing and by this point in the match it appeared that the visitors had lost
favour with the whistler. 12-29

From the restart the hosts secured the ball and with renewed determination and the visitors
a player short, they attacked Petersfield’s twenty two. A series of errors and mishandling
together with the rotation of players from the visitors bench had North Dorset pass to one of
their speedy backs out on the wide left, who rounded Fields line to score an unconverted try
17-29

From a scrum on Petersfield’s ten metre line, replacement winger George Davis motored
through the defence shrugging off three tacklers to score a perfect try under the crossbar
dotting down three metres in goal. Regrettably Davis’s pace had left all but two of the home
team for dead and from a considerable distance he was adjudged to have knocked on in
goal. Those spectators on the tryline touch and behind the goal were surprised at the
decision as was Davis, whose comments earnt him a yellow card.

The host were trying hard to secure their fourth and bonus point try and were coughing up
ball to the advantage of the visitors. Charlie Muir latched on to a loose ball and broke
through to use his speed to bring the tryline into range and unselfishly gave a pass to right
winger Eddie Matthews who crossed the line and theatrically held the ball, point down off the
pitch, until he was certain that all concerned could see it dotted down. 17-34

In a fine display of support play Charlie Muir again joined the line and made sixty metres
only to be tackled ten metres short of the tryline where the supporting Tom Land took the ball
and stepped two tacklers and rolled over the line to score a converted try on the final
whistle.17-41

Despite the rash of handling errors and yellow cards this was a satisfactory final game for
Petersfield with some good teamwork and some excellent forward set piece and broken play.
The back line, when error free, combined well and made the hosts scramble to defend.

Squad: Jackson Clark, Sam Brown, Dan Sargent, Franco Tomic, Matt Momber, Jack
Janaway, Karter Whittock, Liam Perkins, Joe Knowles, Matt McLean, Miles Sampson, Toby
Colwood, Tom Land, Eddie Matthews, Charie Muir, Nic Wilde, Chase Thomas, George Davis

The win secured fifth place in the league, which many would agree is a fair reflection of our performance throughout the season. It's an impressive achievement for our first season ever at Level 6.

There was plenty of drama elsewhere in the league. Farnham sealed an unbeaten season with a nail-biting 20-19 win over Bournemouth RFC. Tottonians secured fourth place, cruising to a 47-26 victory over Chobham on the road. Guildford triumphed 29-19 over relegated Andover to confirm their survival, while Winchester narrowly defeated Wimborne 28-26, securing third place—just two points behind second-placed Bournemouth.

The day's biggest drama unfolded at Monks Lane, where a Chichester win would have guaranteed their survival in Regional 2. However, a heavily out-of-form Newbury hit their stride, defeating their West Sussex opponents 37-5 to secure survival and relegate Chichester in the process.

Here’s how the league finished:

As the 24/25 season comes to a close, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been part of this incredible campaign. To our supporters, your unwavering passion and energy have been the driving force behind our success, both on and off the field. To our sponsors, thank you for your generous support, which has enabled us to achieve new heights and push boundaries. A special thank you goes to our volunteers, whose hard work and dedication have made everything possible, from matchdays to all the behind-the-scenes tasks. Every single person who has been involved has played a vital role, and we are incredibly grateful for your commitment to the club. Roll on next season, Up The Rams!