Romsey 1st XV vs Alton 1st XV

Last Saturday saw Romsey Rugby Club take on a strong Alton team at their Romsey Sports Centre ground.

It was a hot sunny day more in keeping with the cricket, however, pre-season training is now over and the real business of playing matches was about to commence.

Romsey had a new look side with a good blend of youth and experience.

The conditions favoured a running game and Romsey started well with the talented back line spreading the play wide right from the start.

Romsey maintained some early pressure on Alton and the scrum finally settling down after an uncertain start with the front row beginning to show some dominance.

This allowed Captain Graham Lusty to pick up from the base and initiate a try-scoring move that was straight from the training ground.

Good handling by Dan Penn-Newman and Rob Stent made space for Penn-Newman to score close to the posts.

Alex Lee stepped up to slot home the conversion.

Romsey were now playing with more confidence and a series of precise kicks culminated in a line out close to their opponent’s line.

A quick ball allowed centre Jamie Stent to profit from Lee’s neat off-load to score a second try.

The added conversion gave Romsey a well-deserved 14 point lead. This fired up Alton who put Romsey under increasing pressure. Ill-discipline in the Romsey ranks allowed Alton to slot two penalties making it 14-6 at half time.

The second half kicked off and Romsey came out in positive mood. Some great running from debutant Jake Dugdale and stalwart Andrew Stuart ably supported by Jim Lamont kept Romsey on the front foot.

As time marched on and fatigue set in, substitute Matt Southey came on and within minutes earned himself a 10-minute rest for a trip on an opponent.

This spurred on Alton who went on to dominate the rest of the game despite a heroic rearguard action from Sam Arthur and his team mates in the pack.

Alton kicked three more penalties and went over for three tries leaving a final score of 14-34.

Despite the loss there were lots of positives for Romsey to take from the game and they look forward to hosting Fordingbridge at 3pm next Saturday.

Team: P Cunningham, C Latham, D Hall, J Allen, T Pattison, S Dawson, S Arthur, G Lusty (Captain), D Penn-Newman, A Lee, J Dugdale, J Stent, J Lamont, A Stewart, R Stent. Subs: M Southey.