Fareham Heathens 8 - 24 Southampton

After switching venues earlier in the season due to flooding on Fareham's pitch, Southampton travelled to Fareham for the return fixture. With the first team pitch submerged beneath its usual layer of mud and water, the game was moved down to the second team pitch which did have grass.

Despite some last minute changes, Southampton fielded a strong side with a powerful pack and pace in the backs. But it was Fareham who got off the mark early on as their big second row broke through the defence inside the Southampton 22. Support came from the left winger who forced his way over to touch down in the corener. The kick was unsuccessful, showing a sign of things to come for the Heathens’ number ten…

Against a strong wind, Southampton took their time to get into their stride and instead it was Fareham who had chances to score as Southampton were repeatedly penalised. But the fly half was only able to convert one chance from four first half efforts, taking Fareham to 8 points. Instead Tom Morton showed him how to do it at the other end, converting two penalties out of two and reducing the deficit to 8-6.

Southampton found themselves being dragged down to Fareham’s level, who did their best to wind up the visitors and put them off their game. Heathen’s scrum half then took exception to some excellent Southampton rucking and started swinging punches, which were returned with interest from Southampton. When the dust settled, the flashpoint seemed to have fired up the Southampton lads, while Fareham shuffled away to wipe off the claret.

Fareham’s fly half then put a chuckle on everyone’s faces when he plucked the ball out of a maul and kicked it out of hand, directly through the uprights. To cries of “You can’t do that!” he jogged back and prepared to face a 22 drop out.

Southampton really raised their game and came close to taking the lead soon after. Morts put the ball into the corner from a penalty, and Tony Cador peeled round at the front of the line. He used his inertia to crash over in the corner and the ref awarded the try, before a late call from the Fareham touch judge overruled it, claiming Cador’s foot was in touch.

But Southampton took the lead shortly after when they stole the ball and got it wide quickly. Ryan Keary came into the line from full back and held off the defence to score on the left wing. Morts couldn’t find the target with conversion, putting Southampton 8-11 in front.

Despite some promising running from Adam Zeller and Lee Mauger, Southampton were unable to add to their score before half time. But they were happy to go in ahead, having played the first half into a strong wind and up a hill.

The second half saw Southampton extend their lead as Fareham found it harder to make territory against the strong wind. An early penalty from Tom Morton stretched the lead to 8-14, before a long kick from Cador bounced infield and sent the full back deep into his 22 to collect.

A good chase from the Saints’ backs left the Heathens’ full back with few options. He passed infield to the inside centre, who did likewise but by that point Dave Ward had lined up the centre and timed the tackle well to get man and ball.

The Southampton support was there quickly to steal and drive forwards. As they approached the Heathen’s line, prop Marcus Coffin emerged from the throng of players to dive over and score. The kick drifted wide, taking the score to 8-19.

Coffin then doubled his tally minutes later when more pressure from Southampton caused turnover ball. Again Coffin somehow popped out of a mass of players with the ball, but showed great speed to outpace the defence and run in from a fair distance. I'm sure that's still up for debate... Again Morts couldn’t add the extras in the swirling wind and rain, giving Saints an 8-24 lead.

Saints then went down to fourteen men, when the ref sin binned prop Kevin Simmons for repeated infringements at the scrum. But Fareham couldn’t take advantage of the extra man despite a series of penalties which drove Southampton backwards.

Southampton swapped hooker Andrew Dymott and winger Mark Waterer for Sam Holland and Chris Alston, but it was not really a day for spinning the ball wide. It’s doubtful if Chris actually got his hands on the ball, while Jules might have come close to frostbite out on the right wing!

Overall it was a solid enough performance from Southampton, who lift themselves up to fourth place with this 8-24 win. Marcus Coffin earned the Man of the Match jacket with an excellent two-try performance, while Adam Zeller made good ground in the centres and put in some big tackles.

Rob Greenaway did great work to steal a number of loose balls, while Kevin Cant showed his versatility with an excellent game at flanker to follow his recent Man of the Match performance from full back.

With Millbrook and Romsey both losing, Southampton move up to fourth on points difference with two games remaining.