2s Finish 1st Against 3s

For a while, it looked like the chilly, wet winter weather might have put some doubts into the minds of his players, but some earnest early morning phone conversations, by Coach Steve Woolcombe, stiffened their resolve. By kick-off, Woolcombe’s large squad was assembled and bursting at the seams with strength and quality.

This week was by far Field’s strongest squad of the season; welcoming as it did the return from injury / unavailability of Samuel Rushmer and Paul Hogden and the arrival of debutant Zac Jenkins to a full complement of 2nd XV regulars.

Following an impeccably observed silence in memory of the fallen, Field got the game underway and immediately applied pressure to Portsmouth’s team of old hands allied with a hand full of younger players. The hosts cleared their lines and the game settled in to a series of minor skirmishes punctuated by, too many, mistakes from a Petersfield side that seemed strangely lacking in desire.

The game was very much hit and miss; when Portsmouth tried to play, Field’s defence snuffed them out but when Field gained possession and started building phases, their poor decision-making and execution gifted respite to Portsmouth’s defence.

Field managed just one score in the first quarter, finally hooking up some great phase play; Gerry Devlin scooping up a loose ball and executing a timely switch with Steve Woolcombe who put Dan Giles away for the try. By the end of a very scrappy first half, the score had improved to 3-tries to 1 in favour of the visitors but it was clear that Field needed to be more patient, build phases and spread the ball wide to stretch the aging Portsmouth backline.

At half time, Field brought on the entire bench; Ed Corner, Dan Wiggins, Chad White into the front row, centres Sam Rushmer and Paul Hogden, Sam Wilks at fullback and Zack Jenkins into the back row. The impact of these players was immediate; Field set up camp deep inside Pompey’s half and started putting together some great phase play, only to be thwarted this time by ill-discipline. First, Joe Mayell was invited to spend 10-minutes on the naughty-step where, a phase later, he was joined by Sam Rushmer. Petersfield made a few changes just to steady the ship and it was back to business.

Despite the disruption of the yellow cards, Field continued to reap the rewards of their phase play and the injection of fresh legs began to allow them to dominate the game. Chad White, essayed a typical darting run, managing to avoid the entire Portsmouth back line to secure Field’s next score. From the restart, Field pushed wide to stretch the tiring Portsmouth forwards and, with some slick passing, setting up Flyhalf Rory Munro to cut through the centres like the proverbial hot knife. Unfortunately for Field, Munro’s unselfish pass on the try line to fellow back, Matt Painter, was subsequently dropped!

Whilst it hadn’t seemed likely at the start, Field eventually ran out easy winners, scoring six well-worked tries – three converted - but arguably missing out on a bunch more through their own mistakes. The most impressive players on the day were the returning Paul Hogden - who looked very powerful - and the super-quick Sam Wilks who avoided tackle with some very sharp running lines and footwork.

In addition, Zack Jenkins had incredible impact throughout the second half, running and supporting and causing problems for Portsmouth all over the pitch. He also showcased his terrific pace in support of a Sam Wilks run for the line by staying on his team-mates shoulder all the way.

Another strong win but a slightly disappointing performance with a host of positives for the future of the side. The result raised Field to sixth place in the table and they appear to be on track to potentially threaten the top three by Christmas.