Merit Table 2 - 2nd XIV (22) v Gosport & Fareham 3rd XV (15)

The team has been rebuilt this season, after a torrid time last year, and has so far put in some scintillating and high scoring displays. This, their latest Merit Table 2 fixture, was the previously postponed match against visitors Gosport & Fareham.
With the 3rds and Vets also in action for Petersfield the player-pool was obviously stretched and so the 2nds took to the pitch a man short and with no-one on the bench. Gosport & Fareham, meanwhile, had a full fifteen plus four substitutes.

With the odds stacked against them from the start it was surely just a matter of time before Gosport overwhelmed Field. However, the visitors were unable to take advantage of the permanent over-lap and the home side’s work-rate meant that it was they who took control of the game and looked the more likely to score.

Field’s pack proved a match for the opposition and particularly sharp performances from the breakaway forwards prevented Gosport from settling into their game plan and disrupted their supply to the backs. Meanwhile, the Field three-quarter line may have looked like at times like a three-legged dog but the backs also worked tirelessly to overcome their numerical disadvantage, covering each other in defence and stepping into the line at pace in attack.

It took some time for Field to break the deadlock but they got their reward for a sustained attack in the away side’s 22 which culminated in Lewis barrelling through for the score on the left side. Haslett’s conversion from a difficult position fell agonisingly short.
Just before the break a clever miss-pass from the inside centre found Bremner, the Field fullback, who joined the line at pace and surged past the despairing defence for another score in the left corner. The home side went in to the break 10 – 0.

From the restart Gosport took the game to Field and had a spell of pressure in the 22, only for Field to turn defence into a 7-point attack. The red team secured the ball and spread it through the hands from right to left making ground from their try line to just inside their 10-metre line. Haslett was the last receiver and he pinned back his ears and accelerated down field. It seemed certain that he would be caught, but the young man found even more speed to run around the defence before cutting back across the try zone to score behind the posts. Haslett caught his breath and slotted over the simple conversion.

Gosport pulled five points back with a catch and drive from a 5m lineout and went back on the hunt for more from the restart. A promising attack ended in their wing being tackled in to touch by the covering Mackay, however, the excellent back-row had gone in high and was sent to the sin-bin. With Mackay in the sin-bin and Lewis off the pitch receiving treatment, Gosport took immediate advantage and overpowered the twelve men in red to score their second try.

Undaunted, Field kept working and moved play back into the visitors half. Gosport managed to stop the attacking backs, but finally, some terrific interplay down the left wing by Field ended with Lewis crossing for his second and Field’s fourth try. With the Gosport backline failing to cope with the ball, it took a cross field kick to allow them to finally advantage of their overlap and they scored the final try of the game.

The 2nd XV’s next League fixture is at home to Eastleigh’s 3rds on Saturday 26th October.