A Strong Opening to Defence of Hampshire Cup

Alton U14s put in a strong performance in their first defence of their Hampshire county title with 56 points to 0 win over a relatively new Romsey team, who despite playing with real heart, are clearly just getting used to playing together as they build for the future.

Right from the kick off, the boys pressed up quickly, forcing the Romsey defence back into their own 22, some quick hands moving the ball first right, then left, saw Jonny Maddock going over to score the first try.

As a team, we score all kinds of tries, and today was no exception, determined straight running from the power combination of Adam, then Luke, then Adam again, battered the Romsey defence, to allow Adam Hall to go over for the third. Four try’s from Matt Salisbury in 14 minutes left the half time score 32 – 0.

The 35-point rule meant that with Josh Law’s try on 30 minutes the game was officially over as a contest but with Romsey gamely wanting to play on, the match continued as a friendly. A further try from the direct running of Finlay Hendren three minutes later, took the Alton score up to 44 points.

For reasons known only to themselves it was at this point the boys decided to switch off, line speed dropped, both in attack and defence, we started to play like a group of individuals rather than as a team. Romsey got their tails up and for 15 minutes really put pressure on the Alton try line, only the boy’s determination not to concede saw them escape their own half without doing so. Finally, a good kick from Greg Carter and strong chase got the boys away from their own line, before an audacious through the legs pass from Matt Salisbury saw normal service resume with Jonny Maddock streaking along the touchline and in under the posts. A further try from the ever-eager Josh Gregory capped off a convincing win.

The pack were excellent today, Alton totally dominated the scrum and for the majority of the game our line speed was everything we’ve being working towards over the last few months. At the breakdown we were often first to the ball, but when Romsey had it, clear organisation from key players meant we didn’t waste energy on lost causes but also ready to press hard in defence and really put pressure on Romsey’s attack.

It’s difficult to criticise a team that have just won with such an overwhelming score, however the boys themselves recognised that whilst we were on top for long periods, this was not our best performance and that there is still plenty to work on.

Try’s 10
Matt Salisbury 4
Adam Hall 1
Josh Gregory 1
Jonny Maddock 2
Josh Law 1
Finlay Hendren 1

Conversions 3
Greg Carter 1
Jonny Maddock 1
Josh Law 1