U14s Through to Hampshire Cup Final

Our U14 team survived an onslaught from a strong Andover side to come out 20-14 winners and once again make it through to the Hampshire Cup final.

Alton started tentatively, daunted perhaps by the unexpectedly strong attacking and defensive play of the Andover side that they faced. First points of the day went to Andover, with a well worked try under the posts, which was successfully converted: Alton 0 - 7 Andover.

Alton got themselves on the board five minutes later with James Richardson showing his speed, evading the chasing Andover players to score a try in the corner. The tough kick was not converted and neither side scored again in the first half, leaving the half-time scores as Alton 5 - 7 Andover.

Within minutes of the second half kicking off, Alton took the lead with a try from Matthew Salisbury after a strong run down the line (Alton 10 - 7 Andover). A period of very physical play from both teams followed, with neither side stamping their authority on the game. However, a strong scrum from Alton on Andover's 5m line and some well worked backs' play brought another try, with a long pass from Gregory Carter to James Richardson putting James over in the corner. Josh Law converted with an impressive kick from the touch line. Alton 17 - 7 Andover.

Andover kept the pressure on and clearly still thought the game was theirs to win, the pressure soon paying off with another converted try under the posts to bring them back within 3 points with 10 minutes left on the clock. The Andover onslaught continued but Alton held strong and secured the win when, with only a minute left to play Andover were penalised in their own 22 and Josh Law once again used his boot to good effect to take the final score to Alton 20 - 14 Andover.

Some good lessons learned, with the Alton boys prevailing despite making a number of uncharacteristic mistakes. Certainly there were some big sighs of relief when the final whistle blew and we will now regroup for the Cup final on 25 March against Trojans (making a change to the traditional Alton v New Milton battle!).