Aldershot & Fleet 7 - 27 Southampton

Southampton showed their strength in depth this weekend as they replaced eight regular first teamers and still proved too strong for Aldershot and Fleet.

Greg Speed, Chris Alston, Adam Zeller and Fraser Chisholm all made their first starts for the Firsts and hepled the side regain their winning ways after close defeats to Alton an Romsey. Adam Zeller made an early impact with a massive tackle on the Aldershot centre.

A&F threatened early on as they spun the ball wide, but Ward put in a tackle on the left wing and took an impressive hand-off in the face in the process.

But Saints' pack was on great form and controlled the scrum from the start. Fraser Chisholm added his considerable power at second row and the Aldershot scrum was driven back almost every time.

The first try came from Paul Brant, who took a pass off Tony Cador and dodged through the defence to score. The conversion added the extra two points.

Kevin Simmons claimed Southampton's second, after the forwards had again drove their way towards the Aldershot line. With the defence stretched, he showed strength and an unlikely burst of pace to power over the line. The conversion was missed, giving Saints a 12-0 lead.

Things got tougher for Aldershot when they went a man down as their flanker was sinbinned. With the pack already struggling and now down to seven, Southampton piled on the pressure and forced Aldershot back at every oppotunity.

Tony Cador added to his growing try count with another close range efort as he took the ball on his own, but used his inertia to crash over the line. The conversion took Saints' lead to 19-0.

Despite seeing very little of the ball, Aldershot showed they could take their chances when they spun the ball wide quickly and found an overlap on the Saints' right. The conversion was from a tight angle but was converted with the last kick of the half, making the score Aldershot 7, Southampton 19.

The second half saw Southampton continue to dominate, but they found it harder to turn their pressure into points. A penalty kept the scoreboard ticking over before Cador picked up and crashed over the line for his second of the game.

That was the final score of the game, but Southampton found themselves under pressure in the final ten minutes as Aldershot took advantage of a series of penalties to close in on the Southampton line. Saints then found themselves down to fourteen men as Adam Zeller was sinbinned for not being back ten, as Saints found themselves defending desperately.

But the Southampton defence held firm and they closed out the game to win 7-27. An excellent result, especially considering the numerous changes. The new guys that came into the team did an excellent job, with Fraser Chisholm earning the man of the match jacket for a powerful display at second row. He also comprehensively demolished the A&F front row in the post match drinking race.

Good work!