Southampton 17 - 8 Petersfield

Ryan Pickering and Sam Holland kept their places in the front row, while Lee Mauger replaced the injured Rob Greenaway at second row. Tom Morton made his first team debut at fly half and Alex Scott brought his years of experience to the left wing.

Southampton started confidently and controlled much of the early territory through their big runners. When Petersfield were penalised twice early on, Pierre Molyneux handed the ball to fly half Tom Morton to try his luck from 30 yards, but both kicks missed the target. Petersfield also took an attempt at three points with an ambitious attempt from inside their own half, but although the strike had the distance it drifted left of the posts.

The league leaders created a number of chances inside the first twenty minutes, finding space in the midfield which left their centre charging towards the Southampton posts. Only a last ditch tackle from Pierre Molyneux prevented Petersfield from taking the lead. The visitors did score soon after though, after breaking through the defence to touch down to the right of the Saints posts. The conversion drifted wide, but they then extended the lead with a penalty taking the score to 8-0.

Southampton have really been playing to their strengths in recent weeks and again they employed their big pack to good effect, with Tony Cador, Kevin Simmons and Lee Mauger in particular making good ground with ball in hand. After Petersfield were again penalised, an excellent positional kick from Tom Morton put the ball within 5 yards of the visitors’ line for a Southampton throw, where a training ground move saw Tony Cador peel round and crash over the line in the corner. Morton was successful with the conversion from a difficult angle, reducing the deficit to 8-7 at half time.

The second half started well for Southampton as Petersfield were unexpectedly reduced to fourteen men when a flanker was sin-binned for repeatedly pushing the referee. Bemused but nevertheless grateful for the advantage, Southampton then took a 10-8 lead through Tom Morton as he slotted over the resulting penalty.

The remainder of the game remained tight, with both sides still in the hunt for the win. But Southampton’s tackling was excellent and Petersfield found it hard to create the sort of gaps they had found in the first half. Mark Waterer was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle himself after running straight into both Petersfield centres.

Things got tense as the game entered the final 10 minutes, with Southampton notorious for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory after last minute losses to Fordingbridge and Alton last season. But instead they sealed the win with an excellent individual try from full back Julian Robins. With a ruck set securely in the middle of the park, scrum half Ward looked for options from his back division but found they had not yet realigned after the initial attack. Instead it was Robins who spotted an opening and switched from right to left as he took the ball from Ward. He still had plenty to do, but beat the defenders with a trademark sidestep to touch down and seal the win. Tom Morton capped an excellent debut by adding the extras, to give Southampton a hard-fought 17-8 win.

An excellent performance from Saints, who have really found their form in recent weeks. Lee and Ian Mauger both put in excellent displays in the pack, while Tom Morton looked hugely impressive as he controlled the game from fly half. Tony Cador maintained his fantastic try-scoring record as he notched up his 8th touchdown of the season. Southampton travel to Fareham Heathens next week where they will be hoping to continue their run of form against a side who has struggled since coming up to Hampshire 1.