Saints v Fordingbridge

Saints made a great start to the game, disrupting the Fordingbridge line and scrum with their dominant pack. When the ball was turned over after ten minutes it was shipped out quickly through the Saints back line to left wing Alex Scott, who chipped the ball ahead. He chased it up with Julian Robbins, but the bounce of the ball fell kindly to Jules, who seemed almost embarrased as he picked the ball up on the Fordingbridge line and slid across to touch down. Unfortunately the ref hadn't seen the grounding and only saw as the Fordingbridge defender rolled Jules onto his back to claim he had been held up. Five yard scrum.

With Saints still cursing their bad luck, a break from the 'Bridge number eight wasn't stopped soon enough, drawing too many Saints players towards him. With the defence all over the place, the ball was moved out to the right winger who went round the last man and scored in the corner. The conversion was excellently slotted over from a difficult angle. Seven nil to Fordingbridge.

Southampton got off the mark with a Dave Griff penalty from 35 yards, but soon afterwards the home crowd were treated to a Champagne Rugby spectacular from the forwards. Bean picked up in the loose, drew his man and popped to Ginger on his right. Ginger demonstrated a beautiful palm off before unloading back to Bean, who had used his unstoppable momentum to stay in support. Bean passed it out to Alan Butler, who was too strong for the Fordingbridge defence as he charged down the five yard channel. He touched down for Saints' first try- a tremendous effort by the forwards that showed the backs how it should be done. The conversion was missed but Saints had the lead, 8-7.

Alan Butler finishes off a great move to score Saints' first try

Shortly after, Dave Griff demonstrated the kind of form that has Jonny Wilkinon worrying about his place at 10. He picked the ball up on the Fordingbridge ten yard line, saw Bean, Marcus and Ginger outside him and decided just to do it himself. He threw about six sidesteps that could only have been possible by dislocating each hip in turn, but the Fordingbridge defence bought them all, letting Griff walk through unchallenged to touch down under the posts. He converted his own try for a 15-7 Southampton lead at half time.

Saints' poor discipline cost them six points at the start of the second half, as two penalties were slotted over for Fordingbridge. The scoreboard then stayed as it was for the next twenty five minutes, although Saints continued their domination of the Fordinbridge lineout. Ian Budd and Alan Long stole 'Bridge ball in the air, while Jamie Stewart collected a few overthrows at the back. But Fordingbridge had some quick runners in the back, and only some last ditch tackles, notably from Alex Scott, kept them out. With twenty minutes to go Saints made a triple substitute, swapping Ward, Butler and Coffin for Darryl Bray, Ben Peter and Wayne Allen.

With just over ten minutes left, the Fordingbridge number eight went in late on Dave Griff and then put a couple of punches in for good measure, prompting Wayne Allen to come charging to his defence from thirty yards out. The ref took a dim view of it though and sent both Wayne and the number eight for a ten minute breather. The resulting Saints' penalty missed touch and Fordingbridge ran it back at pace. After some missed tackles in midfield, Fordingbridge found themselves with only James Parks to beat. Although he, Jules and Alex Scott had put in some vital tackles all afternoon, he had too much to do this time and Fordingbridge scored again to narrow the gap even further. With a succesful conversion too, the score was suddenly 15-18 to Fordingbridge and time was running out for Saints.

With only minutes left on the clock, Southampton had to take some risks. But when their last attack was turned over, Fordingbridge broke through the middle and suddenly found a big gap. Jules cut the angle down, but a clever crossfield kick found the Fordingbridge winger in acres of space on the right. He collected and dived over to seal the win. The conversion was missed but it was the last kick of the game; Saints had learned a bit too much from England's performance against Wales and thrown away a decent half-time lead. The final score was 15-25.

Captain Marcus was quick to praise the hard work done by a number of the team, including man of the match Bean, whose strong scrummaging was coupled with some powerful runs. But ultimately there were too many missed tackles as Saints again failed to kill-off a game they should have won. Farnborough at home next week as Saints look for some much needed points.