Romsey v Saints

The final day of the league season saw Southampton travel to Romsey knowing they must win to have any chance of avoiding finishing bottom.

They got off to the best possible start, pressurising the Romsey catcher at the kick off. The disruption caused the fly half to fumble and Dave Griffiths prodded the ball towards the line. He then beat the covering defender to the ball and touched down to the right of the posts. Griff then converted his own try to give Southampton a very early seven point lead.

Southampton dominated much of the first half, but were unable to open up the Romsey defence. Femi Adeniren tested his winger on the right wing, while on the left Alex Scott also threatened the line with a chip over the top. The forwards also looked solid, with Mark Mauger coming close to the line after a well-worked lineout move.

But Romsey capitalised on a mistake when the ball bobbled loose at the back of a Saints' scrum. Their open-side flanker was first to react and he gathered the ball and forced his way over for the try. The conversion fell short, narrowing the score to 5-7.

The first half remained a tense affair, with neither side able to add to their scores. But Southampton's forwards showed a glimpse of what was to follow when they drove a Romsey scrum backwards and stole the ball.

The second half was an entirely different affair, with Southampton finally delivering the performance they have been threatening all season. The pack continued where they left off and immediately put the Romsey scrum under pressure. After driving the opposition back over their own line, Tony Cador dived on the ball but the ref decided he had been held up. But they repeated the feat soon after and this time Cador's touchdown was given. Dave Griffiths added the extras, but only after the Romsey full back got himself sin binned for punching Ginger.

The hooker then joined his team mate in the sinbin when he killed the ball yards from his own line. Despite the two man advantage, the formidable Saints pack was probably hindered as the scrums went uncontested for the next ten minutes.

But the visitors took advantage of the extra men and soon added to their total. Marcus Coffin picked the ball up on the Romsey 22 and showed great pace to dart through a gap and crash over the line. Again, Griff added the conversion to give Saints a 5-21 lead.

Southampton continued to threaten, with Aaron Nelson making good ground from full back. Ian Budd crashed up the park after catching a kick off, while Rob Greenaway constantly worked hard and seemed to be everywhere around the park.

The next Saints try came from outside centre Dave Ward, who took the ball in the centre of the park with three men outside him. With the defence stretched, Ward cut inside his man to score under the posts. Griff's kicking form continued as he slotted over the conversion.

On the hour mark Paul Childs came on for Allen Long, who put in a solid display at flanker. Saint's kept the pressure on and added a fifth try when Dave Griffiths broke through the defence wide on the right. He couldn't find the target with the conversion, giving Saints a 33-5 lead.

Right at the death Romsey grabbed a consolation try, when they moved the ball out through the backs. The Saints defence got sucked in and Romsey fed the left winger, who went round the outside to score. They missed with the conversion, making the final score 10-33.

It was a fantastic match where Southampton finally showed what they are capable of. The forwards completely dominated at the set-piece, while the backs looked solid in defence and dangerous in attack. Saints have dominated most of the teams they have played this season and have certainly created plenty of chances. But Saturday was probably the first time they realy converted their chances into the points they deserved, in a performance that had Hampshire RFU Chairman gushing with praise.

Unfortunately Southampton found their form too late in the season, as Eastleigh's win over Farnborough confirmed Saints' season would end with them propping up the table.