BASINGSTOKE under-14s, in their first county final, lifted the Hampshire Cup after beating Havant 17-15 at Down Grange.

In a thrilling contest, the A and E Builders-backed home side won a game which was in the balance until the last play.

The visitors opened the scoring after 10 minutes with an unconverted try.

With 17 minutes gone of a 25-minute first half, 'Stoke lost Sam Goodall after he took a heavy tackle and suffered concussion, resulting in a visit to the casualty department.

Before the break, the home side lost hooker Joe Martin and centre Dan Clarke to injury.

From a Havant scrum on the 'Stoke 22 the ball was fumbled and George Bethell collected to pass out to David Rees who ran down the left, evading and overpowering at least three defending players to score in the corner. Tim Dixon missed the conversion so the sides were locked at 5-5 after 28 minutes.

Five minutes later, a strong driving maul on the Havant 22 was well won by the 'Stoke forwards and Michael Lenton linked with Dixon to free Rees into the Havant 22.

Tom Mott found James Stones out wide and his superb pace took him into the corner for a well-worked try, which went unconverted.

Havant hit back to tie the game at 10-10 with 15 minutes left only for the home to regain the lead. Lenton, Dixon and Mott combined for Stones to score again. This time Mott converted to make it 17-10.

With seven minutes left, the visitors closed the gap to two points. As the clock counted down, Havant were awarded a penalty but 'Stoke stopped them a yard short of the line.

The win brought praise to the coaching team of Steve Bethell, John Rees, Chris Ilett and Bev Pinnick.

Basingstoke: Phil Richards, Joe Martin, Dan Ilett, George Bethell, Luke Delaney, Tom Compton, Will Jenkins, David Rees, Michael Lenton, Tim Dixon, James Stones, Tom Mott, Dan Clarke, Nathan de Klerk, Sam Goodall, Connor Smyth, Dan Plackett, Sam Brett, James Bannon, Sam Penny, Sam Laval, Jon Riddell.