On a bright January day, Alton Silverbacks travelled down to the South Coast and ground out another hard fought victory against Fareham Heathens.
Heathens had lost their last two games resoundingly before this having failed to score a point in either, but they played this match with intensity and aggression that belied their position in the table.
For the Silverbacks, they fielded an unfamiliar and youthful backs division without their first choice kickers, but once again the strength in depth in the squad was to be too much for their opponents.
Matt Sellstrom showed their intentions from the start, collecting the kick off and running to half way and quickly the Silverbacks were putting pressure on the Heathen’s defence. An early Silverbacks’ forwards advance was resisted just short of the line, but space was created and Ollie Fielder crashed over to establish an early lead after just 4 minutes.
The surrounding area of the pitch was very boggy and proving treacherous for the Alton supporters that had made the trip, but fortunately the pitch itself was much firmer and Alton looked to play expansive rugby at every opportunity. Heathens’ focus was pick and go rugby, but occasionally a forward was left isolated and the Silverbacks’ back line were quick to pounce and steal Heathens’ ball.
Silverbacks’ forwards were far less predictable, varying the point of attack with one or two quick passes and from one such move, the ball was spun out wide to Karter Whittock on the right wing. Whittock’s nimble feet and power proved far too much for the flailing Heathens backs as he carved through the defence to extend the lead. Fielder converted from under the posts. 0-12 after 10 minutes.
Upfront, led by Captain Tom Smethurst, the front five forwards were proving immense in the set play and the scrum was particularly dominant as Heathens failed to establish any sustained good field territory
At fly half, Ed Thomas, was not having the most relaxed afternoon, as the Heathens centres looked to put pressure on both half backs at every opportunity. However after 26 minutes, Thomas found a gap and kicked a soaring kick into the Fareham blue sky. The Heathen’s full back never looked comfortable under the ball, and after he failed to collect, Fran Williams found Brendan Sumner who was never going to be stopped from 15 metres. 0-17.
Not undeterred by the score line, roared on by their coaches, Heathens took the game to the Silverbacks for the rest of the half, as their large pack of forwards rumbled forward with impressive mauling and punched holes in the Silverback’s defence. Eventually their belief told as a kick to the corner was collected for Heathens to register their first points. 5- 17 at half time.
The aggression at times threatened to boil over in the game and Heathens were twice penalised with yellow cards either side of half time for a neck roll and late tackle respectively. Early in the second half, the referee called all players from both sides together for a warning.
Alex Toft and Ryan Bale came on at half time, and soon Silverbacks were forced into another change, as Sellstrom suffered an injury and Rhys Jenkins joined the forwards. The Heathens efforts in the first half seemed to have taken its toll on them as they started the half sluggishly and short on numbers, Thomas identified found a gap and Silverbacks had once a again secured a bonus point try. Fielder converted again to stretch the lead to 5-24.
Back to full strength again, Heathens once more took the game to their visitors, and in a carbon copy of their first try, scored again after a kick to the corner was collected to reduce the deficit to two converted tries.
With 18 minutes left, the next score would prove to be vital and it was Whittock’s pace and timing of his run again that was too much for the flat-footed Heathen’s defence to secure the win.
With the Heathens gathered under their posts, they committed to not missing another tackle for the rest of the game. However their plan was quickly undone as Smethurst gathered the kick off with authority and perfectly timed his pass to Bale who scampered, almost untouched, under the posts for the best try of the afternoon.
Heathens were a beaten side but they showed great determination and spirit until the end. For their part, the Silverbacks’ defence never took a step back against an aggressive side all afternoon and took their chances clinically when available. Final score was 10-36
This was a test of the Silverbacks’ character and a useful game ahead of next week’s important encounter with Petersfield. With Field winning against Millbrook, the scene is now set for a critical game in the Hampshire Premiership on Saturday 25th January at Anstey Park, as Alton trail their local rivals by just three points but with a game in hand.