Petersfield 2XV vs US Portsmouth 2XV

Field travelled the short distance down to US Portsmouth for their 4th match of the season, but with a few travel difficulties only just managed to assemble the full team in time for the start. This didn’t fluster ‘Field who started brightly and showed their attacking intent right from the start but couldn’t quite find the killer pass to break the US defence. US soon countered and had ‘Field pinned in their own 22’ and down to 14 men following a dangerous tackle and the resulting yellow card for a Field player. As the pressure built on the ‘Field defence a US score looked likely but a sharp witted Alderman managed to spot an opportune moment to release this pressure by intercepting a US pass, and sprinted the full length of the field and just had the gas to make try line and score before the US tacklers pulled him down.

Following this early Field score both sides showing continuing attacking intent with opportunities aplenty for both sides but ‘Field unable to quite string it all together following a number of line breaks especially from ‘Fields battering rams – Hoff and Belcher. As the half wore on it was US who gained the upper hand and fully capitalised on Field errors as their forwards secured quicker ball for their backs to make full use of, aided by some confusing refereeing decisions This led led to 3 tries on the trot for US. ‘Field picked themselves up as the half came to a close both cutting out the errors and going back to working the ball gradually through the phases. From a Field lineout in the US ‘22 the pack set up a rolling maul and drove towards the US try line. A number of pick and drives from the forwards came extremely close to scoring as Field were just held back from the try line. Even so the ball was recycled again and again until the US defence had been sucked in and the ball was released to the 'Field backline where a miss pass from Eldridge at fly half found Hoffman who broke through the last of the US defence to score and send 'Field into half time at 21-10 down.

The second half proved more even with both sides continuing to show more attacking than defensive intent! Field countered an early 2nd half try from US with a well worked try of their own. The try was set-up from combination of close support play from the forwards following inroads made by Hoff on a number of occasions as he shrugged off US tackles. This created holes in the US defence which Hoffman was again able to exploit as he sensed a gap and burst through the US line, only some scrambled US defence managed to stop him but he was able to offload to Landels running a close supporting line to score 'Fields 3rd try. Further US tries followed both some good attacking play from US and some unfortunate errors on the Field side which US were able to capitalise on. But Field still kept themselves in the match with further scores as again and again the US defence was punctured by battering runs from Hoff, Belcher, Tomkins and others. Firstly Landels was able to round a stretched US defence and score his second. Then a further try followed from a quick tap penalty from Belcher who found Tomkins marauding through the US backline to make the hard yards from which he unselfishly offloaded to Eldridge to stroll over the try line for 'Fields 5th try.

More US tries followed but still Field did not wilt and actually provided the try of the match at the close. The forwards showing good control and team work to work the ball from their own half through multiple phases of play, each time creating quick ball for a further pod of forwards to make inroads as the point of attack was varied. This succession of quick rucks gave 'Field a firm platform just inside the US half from where the back line was released, with Eldridge and Hoff fixing their opposite numbers with some quick passing to send Hoffman searing through a gap in the US defence. A clever supporting line from Landels enabled a lovely offload from Hoffman and sent Landels over for his hattrick and Field's 6th try. Match finishing 48-32.

Skipper Kellie commented afterwards: Field can be proud of their efforts put in by the whole team today, with a number of the scores especially the last one highlighting the attacking ability and verve we have in the team. If we can just add a bit more consistency against the tougher teams in our league we can be a match for anyone.