Southampton 2s confidently outplayed Trojans 3s on Saturday, running in seven tries despite missing inspirational leader, Mark Mauger. Veteran David Adams stepped in to fill the big man’s boots at second row, with regular hooker Tom Jackson making a guest appearance at flanker.

It was a good day for Southampton’s back division, with Femi Adeniren opening the scoring after ten minutes. The ball was moved wide to attack the dog-legged defence, but despite breaking the line Femi still had plenty of work to do to power his way through the defender on the line and score. Dave Ward added the conversion for an early 7-0 lead.

Things were fairly tight amongst the forwards, but Southampton dominated in the backs and used their pace to attack the gaps. Getting the ball wide at every opportunity, they extended their lead after fifteen minutes when Ryan Keary went round the outside on the left wing to score. He missed the chance to convert his own try, taking the score to 12-0.

But Trojans’ fly half played a sensible kicking game, using the gentle breeze to make excellent ground with the boot when Southampton were penalised. But they failed to capitalise, particularly in the first half, as the ref judged many of the hooker’s throws to be not straight, handing the ball straight back to Southampton.

Outside centre Adam Zeller was next to get in on the act as he showed great speed to outpace the defence for Southampton’s third try, which Keary converted with a nonchalant drop goal. Fellow centre Adam Tyson then showed good footwork as he broke through the line and twisted and turned the defence into knots, before cutting under the posts to touch down for his first try for the Club. Ward then attempted to emulate Keary’s drop goal conversion… but he made a right pigs’ ear of it, leaving the score at 24-0.

Trojans then hit back, after a penalty gave them the chance to prod the ball back towards the Southampton try line. The five-man line worked well and the catcher offloaded to a supporting runner coming through at pace. He set up a solid maul and the visitors drove Southampton back over the line to score. The conversion was missed, making the score 24-5.

Adam Zeller then added his second try after spotting a mismatch in the backs and beating the Trojans prop who had unwisely cropped up at centre. Zeller was then denied a hat trick soon after when a floated miss pass from Ward put him clean through on the right wing, only for the ref to call the pass forward from his vantage point some fifty yards behind play. At half time the score was 29-5.

The second half was a tighter affair and with Trojans pressing forward, Southampton found themselves on the receiving end of some questionable penalties. When Femi walked away from one such infringement repeatedly protesting his innocence, the ref sent him to do ten minutes on the naughty step and threatened Captain Dave Ward with ten minutes of his own, if he failed to control his players. Trojans were able to capitalise on the disruption as they scored and converted a try, bringing the score to 29-12.

Southampton’s frustrations continued when the ref pulled back Adam Zeller as he received another long pass which set him clear down the right wing, again judging the pass to have gone forward. But Southampton responded well, with Adam Tyson grabbing his second try of the game. Ward drew the fly half and inside centre and offloaded a short pop to Tyson coming through from pace. Ryan Keary converted for the extras.

The final score of the day saw the forwards finally get into the scoring spirit as Sam Holland took a short pop which put him clean through. He still had a fair distance to cover, but moved the defence around to create enough of a gap which he forced his way through to score the final try of the game. Dave Ward put over the conversion, sealing a 43-12 win for Southampton.

Southampton Rugby Club

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