Alton RFC 1st XV (15) v Southampton RFC XV (16)

Saturday 30 September saw an odd game at Anstey Park! Alton’s players began by racing out of the blocks and capitalising on anything going their way. They scored 3 tries in the first 14 minutes with Luke Parratt picking up from a ruck and barging over from a couple of metres out. Next was Oscar Moseley, finally getting the ball that he was starved of last week, skinning a 50-metre break to the line offloading delightfully to fullback Ed Lowman. Ed, having supported his team mate, gleefully collected the pass to complete a glorious try. Third was Captain Adam Hoxey stretching out to score after some fast rucking from the Alton forwards.

This sadly was where the flowing rugby stopped for ARFC & the game became a bit of a puzzle for them - and their supporters. The scrummaging set piece was solid, but the lineout was uncharacteristically off-beat & lost them many promising positions to work from. The first points from Southampton came from a majestic drop goal from their number 10 just inside the 10 metre line. From here on, Southampton did the simple things very well, making ground and forcing penalties from the Alton players. Although our lads hadn’t stopped making ground themselves, they were starved of advantage that could have created more points and gained them the ascendancy they were striving for.

Alas it was not to happen! Southampton capitalised on Alton’s infringements, scoring a penalty before bursting over the line for a converted try taking the score line to 15-13 (still in Alton’s favour). With 15 minutes to go, Southampton won a penalty and duly popped it over to take the lead. From here, ARFC couldn’t work out how to break down the Southampton defence & again squandered good positions - allowing Southampton to squeeze out the game. Alton gathered at the last whistle somewhat bemused & wondering how they had lost a game that looked there for the taking. All involved know the answers lie at training & will be keen to create an understanding that will see them finish games off as the season goes on.

Despite the above, we had some really notable performances: from Chris Gregory piling forward in the loose and putting in a dominant shift in the scrum; Luke Parratt was everywhere in the loose, racking up the tackles and clearing up the breakdown nicely. The back line worked very well especially in defence with Fran Williams and Aaron Harrington locking out the centre channel.