Alton U16s - Three from Three

Our U16 point retained their perfect record in this season's league with a bonus point win over a physically strong Havant side.

We always knew that this would be a physical encounter and Havant did not disappoint. The Alton boys found themselves under a lot of pressure but defended well throughout the match. We were particularly impressed with our scrummaging against a strong Havant pack and our defence around the edges of the ruck.

Havant's defence was also strong but the first chink in the armour showed when our scrum half, Myles Hawkins, spotted an opportunity down the blind side of a scrum, offloading to Matthew Smoothy on the wing who, in characteristic Smoothy style, broke through the Havant defensive line to get our first points on the board (5-0). Our second score was also to come from a scrum, with Matthew Salisbury cutting a strong line to take the the ball from fly half, Greg Carter, to crash through for another 5 points. Josh Law converted to take the score to 12-0 going into half time.

Alton came out strong in the second half and dominated in the 3rd quarter, playing some of the best team rugby we have seen them play so far this season to add a further two converted tries to the scoreline. The first of these was a second score for Matthew Salisbury as Greg Carter hacked through a fumbled Havant ball, Matt reacting quickly with some good footballing skills to help the ball on its way before diving over the line to dot the ball down. Joshua Law converted to take the score to 19-0. Our final score of the game came soon after, with Gregory Carter taking a quick tap penalty and driving his way over the line in the corner. Josh Law converted once more with an excellent kick from the touchline (26-0).

The final quarter of the match did not see any further score but both teams came close, Alton's best chance probably coming from a fantastic break by Alf Basham, supported by Eli Brozenich who then offloaded to Thomas Baldwin whose dive for the line came up just short.

A fantastic team performance. Well done to all of the boys. Another great win!

Tries:
Matthew Smoothy
Matthew Salisbury x 2
Gregory Carter

Conversions:
Josh Law x 3