Silverbacks spirited fightback denied by last ditch try

For those who made the trip to Andover, they were rewarded with an entertaining game that could have gone either way, but ultimately Alton Silverbacks were cruelly denied a memorable win in the final seconds.
Twice this season, Alton have been hit by late scores but the fact that these games have been against two teams in the top three of London 3 South West indicates they are finding their feet in this level of rugby. With 8 points and numerous tries in the last 3 games, there is continued room for optimism as the season unfolds.
Having secured their first win last week against Portsmouth, Alton’s injury hit squad started brightly on a grey blustery day with the elements in their faces in the first half.
With only 2 fully fit substitutes available, Alex Toft sustained a shoulder injury in the first attack of the game after only 2 minutes and Alton had to turn to their bench immediately as Ryan Bale was introduced on the left wing.
However, Alton started brightly in the first 10 minutes, aided by some poor handling from Andover who struggled to gain any forward momentum. Mayowa Olonilua quickly imposed himself on the game with some barnstorming runs and his fearsome tackling in midfield was a feature of the whole game
George Lucas showed some electric pace in midfield and his kick through pressurised the Andover defence into another error. From the resulting set play, Joe Gwyther released Joshua Richardson who ran an intelligent line and cut through to score under the posts for the opening score which Gwyther duly converted.
Lewis Starbuck found Gwyther whose flick-pass created space on the left wing, but the attack was stopped short as Starbuck agonisingly sustained what appeared to be a serious knee injury after 20 minutes. Alistair McGregor joined the game but now Alton’s reserves were depleted. Sportingly Andover players carried Starbuck to the side-line.
A poor kick through by Andover was touched down in goal by Alton when perhaps the better option would have been to play the ball and Gwyther was forced to drop kick out from his own touch line. Andover began to string several phases of play together and their scrum was exerting dominance now after the departure of Starbuck. However, Olonilua and ex Andover scrum half Dan Farr somehow managed to retain possession under increasing pressure as the forwards were marched back in the set piece. Andover took a quick penalty after a high tackle, again Olonilua made a crunching tackle to repel the hosts but eventually the space opened out wide and Andover were able to level the scores.
Ned Collier Wakefield elusive running on the right wing, tacking left and right (professional offshore sailor reference) was proving a handful for the Andover backs as Alton finished the half strongly. From 5 metres, Luke Parratt found McGregor at the back of the line out and the resulting forward maul was joined by Farr, who passed to Collier Wakefield to score in the right corner in a superbly worked try.
Tom Smethurst’s runs in midfield frequently took 2 or 3 players out of the game, and from one of these, Andover were penalised for hands in the ruck. Gwyther extended the Alton lead to 15-7 with a splendid penalty on the stroke of half time.
Playing with the wind in the 2nd half, Alton started positively and had a sustained period of dominance culminating with a piercing penalty kick by Gwyther inside the 5 metre line, but the lineout failed to go to hand and Andover were able to clear their lines.
Andover’s wings both had electrifying pace and Alton’s scrambling defence was increasingly coming under pressure and the hosts capitalised and scored two quick tries in the left corner. Collier Wakefield needed to leave the field shortly for some running repairs and the rejigged defence looked exposed as the home side took the lead for the first time in the game.
Alton did not panic, Farr kicked through, and this time Andover were forced to touch down under their posts. Eventually the pressure told, Gwyther made a line break, Luke Parratt with a nice offload and Luke Bottomley was hauled down a few metres out as forwards and backs combined well. Andover’s defence were probably relieved to just concede a Gwyther penalty for coming in at the side of a ruck.
Andover extended their lead with a blind side try from a few metres out with only 8 minutes left and trailing 29-18 it now seemed unlikely that Alton would take anything from the game. It seemed a decisive score.
But incredibly, Alton were far from beaten and mounted a spirited comeback. Lucas made a surging run down the left wing and offloaded to Bale to score in the corner after 75 minutes. A Gwyther 50:22 kick and the increasing anxiety was palpable in the Andover defence as their seemingly unassailable lead was now in jeopardy when Richardson scored his 2nd try of the game with just 2 minutes remaining. 29-28.
Gwyther surveyed the conversion kick from far out wide in the increasingly gloomy and gusty conditions. Andover looked for the charge down but encroached too early and were sent back to their own line. Gwyther steadied himself once more and struck the ball magnificently through the posts to give the visitors the lead with seconds remaining. It was a kick that was worthy of winning any game
As the Andover kick off sailed into the darkening skies, Alton needed to just find aw way to hold possession or kick for territory, but Andover stripped the ball and Alton were adjudged to have knocked on.
Last play of the game.
Andover’s scrum held firm and as the ball was shifted across the pitch, Andover conjured a position on the right wing and to their delight and relief they eluded the desperate Alton tackles and scored in the corner to win the game 34-30.
Despite missing several key players, which was compounded by injuries throughout the game, Alton had pushed their hosts all the way. The fightback and intensity in the final 10 minutes bode well for the forthcoming games and they also had the consolation of taking 2 bonus points from the game.
Next week is a home game against local rivals Basingstoke at 2:30 at Anstey Park.