The season is wrapping up, and there will only be one team progressing through to next week. The biggest match of the season for both teams falls this Saturday. Winchester welcome the Red and Green to North Walls Park for a clash between two old Hampshire rivals.

After a narrow but convincing win against Tottonians last week, where Oli Hunt crashed over the line in the last minute, ‘Field will be seeking to prove their place in the playoffs when they face a side who only lost three times in the entire season - a commendable feat. Normally, losing such a little amount of games would seal you promotion but with the reshuffle and another RFU move, we are blessed with the playoffs.

When these two teams most recently played, it was a slim win as Winchester just pipped Petersfield, with 1 point separating the sides. The Red and Green will owe it to themselves to get out and bring home a win.

The last match Winchester featured was in a loss to Bournemouth, the champions, where they lost by a mere margin of 3 points, a simple penalty to seal the league. They were given a Home Walk Over against Reeds Weybridge, allowing them a rest before the big fixture that awaits. With a sold out lunch, featuring Petersfield’s own Andy Patience (forwards coach), it is fixing to be a big turnout in some lovely weather. The Winchester side features nearly a century of caps between their squad, with their captain Matt Golding boasting over 200 himself as he lines up in the second row - a shift away from his usual position of number 8. Noticeably, they are without the services of Tommy Hare, the versatile back line player who ran in a full length interception try against the side when they last visited NWP.

Taking a deeper look at the Petersfield side, fresh recruit Will Norton slots comfortably into the loosehead position, accompanied by the well experienced Sam Brown and powerhouse Dan Sargent in tighthead. Franko Tomic brings the international experience as he joins last weeks winner Oli Hunt in the second row. Hunt is having a standout season, having scored a hattrick in the 2s most recent win against Romsey. Zac Conley shifts into the back row to line up on the blindside, providing size and strength combined with Jack Janaway on the openside, whose ball carrying and tackling ability never goes amiss. The elder of the brothers, Jack picked up the Man of the Match Award last week which saw him cover just about every square foot of the Tottonians ground. Although he is leaving us, Liam Perkins will not want the matches to stop here and finishes an impressive pack, with aspirations of leaving on a high rise of promotion.

As we indulge in the backline, Joe Knowles will be donning the 9 shirt as the scrumhalf for the day. In recent times, the Winchester unit have played a ferocious kicking game via their counterpart, so be on the lookout for some (but hopefully not too many) kicking battles. Brad Caparo calmly fills the 10 slot after some superb goal kicking last week, which ultimately made the difference. DoR Matt McLean slides over to the inside centre this week, with Charlie Muir moving from fullback to 13 to join. A seriously fast pair of centres, they will want their hands on the ball as much as possible to stretch the Winchester backs. Seb Tuff will be aiming to continue his barn storming runs after a superb performance last weekend, where viewers would have lost track of how many defenders he beat throughout the fixture. On the right wing is Jim Tribe, who rejoined us halfway through the season following his time in the Royal Navy and it has been a seamless transition. Ethan Horsfall completes the squad at fullback, where he will likely be facing a barrage of box kicks - as he enjoyed on Thursday’s training session.

Finally, the bench is a full package of finishers. Sam Janaway covers the front row. The scrum will be a deciding factor in this game, with the coaches really turning up the gears for this one. Tom Ffrench-Lynch is able to cover the back row, hooker and his athletic ability even lets him move to the backs if it was required - a pleasure to have him back after his training with the Marines. For the big games, you need big game players and that is exactly what Greg Jansen will be aiming to deliver for the many Petersfield faithful who will be travelling this weekend.

The match kicks off at 3pm in Winchester, get yourselves down there for a make or break fixture!