Overton 27 - 22 Southampton

League leaders Southampton came up against a determined Overton side, who have enjoyed an impressive run of form in the lead up to Christmas which saw them only two points shy of second-placed Fareham Heathens at kick off.

On an undulating pitch, the home side got things underway and immediately set about pinning Southampton in the corner, down the hill and against the wind. They continued applying the pressure until Southampton were penalised for not releasing at the tackle, giving Overton an easy 3 points.

They missed another penalty attempt shortly after, before the setting up a ruck on the Southampton line. They went left and created an overlap as the defence was still organising itself, with the hooker crashing over the Southampton line from close range to take the score to 10-0 - with barely a Southampton hand having touched the ball.

The league leaders then picked their game up and started to enjoy some continuity with the ball in hand. After the pack had driven the ball to within 5 yards of the Overton line, Chris Milne then picked up and dived through a gap to reduce the scoreline. Rob Gould’s conversion was agonisingly wide of the upright, taking the score to 10-5.

The visitors were also helped when two Overton forwards were sin binned in quick succession, both for killing the ball at the tackle within sight of their try line.

With the first half almost over, Dave Ward grabbed a try on his return from injury after he picked up at the back of a ruck and threw a dummy pass, before diving through a hole in the defence. The conversion was added by Ryan Keary, putting Southampton ahead 10-12 as the half time whistle blew.

The second half saw Julian Robins bagging a try for Southampton after picking up a loose ball and outpacing the defenders to touch down under the posts. Keary added the conversion, extending Southampton’s lead to 10-19, which started to look insurmountable.

But Overton hit back with a converted try themselves, reducing the deficit to 17-19 and with 12 minutes to go, Southampton replaced Steve Dewey at second row with Eric Johnson, and the big man wasted no time in making an impact. After feeling aggrieved at receiving some “afters” from an Overton back, Johnson wafted a slack-wristed slap at his opponent’s back– which the ref somehow interpreted as a punch and sent Johnson to the naughty step for all but the final 90 seconds of the game.

The sides again traded penalties to take it to 20-22 and with the Southampton forwards in control of the ball thoughts turned to killing the clock. However the ball suddenly went out to the backs as the Overton defence rushed up to pressurise. An offload between the centres was anticipated well by the Overton number 12, who then ran in from halfway to score under the posts and steal the game. The conversion was the final nail in the coffin and gave Overton the win, 27-22.

Credit to Overton, who refused to give in and showed a big improvement from the side who came to Test Park earlier in the season. Southampton may rue some of the chances they had to kill the game off, while Ryan Keary is still left waiting for his first ride home in a winning Funbus.

A break from league action sees Southampton lined up for a friendly this Saturday, before facing Aldershot and Fleet next week. Southampton will be looking to make amends for their poor showing when the two sides met in October, when A&F became the first side to beat Southampton this season.