Portsmouth 15 Bognor 8
7 December 2024 by Simon Newsham A cold and very windy afternoon drew the smallest Rugby Camp crowd of the season so far, those who did brave the conditions were treated to a Pompey win but it definitely wasn’t a great game. The hosts were quickly out of the blocks on two minutes with the best play of the match. Following a scrum on the left fifteen metres inside the Bognor half, George Wright fed fly-half Jas Solanki whose pass missed out centre Dalziel and found full-back Stewart Davies at speed, his pass to right wing Brad Jewer created the overlap for Jewer to run in and score in the right hand corner. Portsmouth had a good spell of possession in the first ten minutes but were unable to add to their early score. Anthony Fooks was having a busy day due to players going off for injuries he had…
Portsmouth v Eastleigh, Saturday 23rd November 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
Portsmouth travelled a shortish distance along the M27 to Eastleigh wondering a bit what the weather was going to do. With the threat of Storm Bert coming in together with gale force winds and heavy rain it was all a bit daunting. As it turned out it was a much quieter spell that greeted them on the pitch. The wind had dropped and the rain had virtually stopped and at least it was rather mild for a change. Portsmouth got the game underway playing with the wind slightly behind them. They soon had Eastleigh defending their line as the visitors closed in on the try line. With the pitch already wet and muddy, handling was a bit tricky and the first scoring chance went begging when the ball went loose. Eastleigh then set up their first real attack but the backs were pinged for crossing, giving Portsmouth a chance to…
Portsmouth v Bournemouth 2nds, Saturday 16th November 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
The day started with a lunch in memory of Club stalwart Ken Reilly who sadly passed away last week. There were about 60 members present together with Jenny Reilly and her family. There was much recalling of memories of yesteryear. Just before the matches started, teams from the two games lined up for 1 minute’s applause in K.R’s memory. Bournemouth are a much improved side from the one we played last season so Portsmouth new they were in for good contest and so it proved.Portsmouth got the match underway and soon had Bournemouth pinned in their 22. A relieving kick from the visitors saw Portsmouth spin the ball through several pairs of hands and the move was finished of by Leo Wall who dotted down out wide. The conversion fell short so the score stood at 5-0 after about 3 minutes. Just under 10 minutes later Portsmouth set up another…
Portsmouth v New Milton, Saturday 9th November 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
Portsmouth travelled into the heart of the New Forest for this match. The game was preceded by a minutes silence in respect of Remembrance Sunday.Portsmouth got the game underway and soon had New Milton pinned in their half of the pitch. Despite several attacks on the opposition line they were only able to come away with 3 points from a penalty after about 10 minutes, through the boot of Jas Solanki. It was another 5 minutes before they added to their score with a try by Brad Jewer after play had gone from one side of the pitch to the other. The conversion by Solanki was good and they now led 5-10. Shortly after this New Milton managed to get into the Portsmouth half and eventually they won a penalty which they converted to take to score to 3-10. With the game now being played between the 22’s it was…
Portsmouth v Guernsey 2nds, Saturday 26th October 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
What a weekend at Rugby Camp. On Friday night Portsmouth Vets travelled to Petersfield to play their Vets and ran out comfortable winners 7-38. On Saturday Portsmouth had 3 senior men’s teams in action plus the Valkyries 2nd XV playing Swanage & Wareham also at home, running out winners 38-19. And then as if that wasn’t enough, Portsmouth held their annual Octoberfest at the Club in the evening with about 120 attending. The Valkyries kicked off at 12.30p.m. with the Men’s 1’s starting at 1 o’clock. Then the 2nds & 3rds started when those games had concluded.Portsmouth got their game underway and they soon put pressure on the Guernsey line. A good passing move came to nothing when the final pass didn’t quite make it to the receiver and the ball got knocked on, giving a scrum to Guernsey. They secured the ball and a kick upfield saw them in…
Portsmouth v Havant, Saturday 19th October 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
Portsmouth travelled the very short distance to Havant on a bright and sunny day that was also unusually warm for the time of year. Portsmouth welcomed back James Hebbard following a break after suffering from concussion. They also lost Brad Jewer on the morning of the match following illness. His place in the centre was taken by Will Dalziel who was due to play full back. The fullback position was taken by Ali Macdonald who came of the bench. Matt Hughes went onto the bench. The game was being played on the Havant 1st XV 4G all weather pitch. Havant got the game underway and Portsmouth went straight into attack mode with a nice kick deep into the Havant 22. Fortunately the ball came off a Havant player so it was Portsmouth’s throw in. Havant managed to burgle the ball but Portsmouth managed to get it back and a good…
Portsmouth v Trojans, Saturday 12th October 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
The day was proceeded by a Luncheon in memory of Peter Golding, Dick Tyrell and Keven Ricketts. Their families were present along with about 70 former and current club members. Excellent food was provided by Club Chef Jimmy Martin who always provides for the Club Lunches. Jimmy is a Club member and former 1st xv prop.Trojans got the game underway and Portsmouth gathered deep in their 22 and went onto the attack straight away. For the next 5-10 minutes play was confined to the 22’s. with Portsmouth being the more dominant. Eventually Portsmouth were penalised for not releasing after the tackle. The kick was in front of the posts and an easy kick gave them a 0-3 lead after about 8 minutes. From the restart Portsmouth took play deep into the Trojan’s 22 where a penalty against them saw flyhalf Matt Higgins line up a kick at goal which he…
Portsmouth v Basingstoke, Saturday 28th September 2024, Counties 1 Hampshire League
Portsmouth got the game underway and Basingstoke took the game straight back to the visitors. With only a few minutes on the clock Portsmouth lost second row Jordan Cracknell with a shoulder injury following a big tackle on his opposite number. Will Dalziel went on in his place. For a while play was taking place between the 22’s but eventually following a penalty against Basingstoke Jas Solanki slotted a good kick to give Portsmouth a 0-3 lead. The Portsmouth backs looked dangerous when they got the ball with Luke Simmons from fullback showing good pace but unfortunately their opportunities were rather restricted. Basingstoke had a very big pack and made Portsmouth work hard for their chances. With about 30 minutes gone Basingstoke were able to cross for the first try of the match and take a 5-3 lead. The Portsmouth scrum were beginning to give a better account of themselves…
Portsmouth 12 v Ellingham & Ringwood 23 14/9/24
Starting their home campaign Portsmouth quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a try, the visitors ran the kick off back at the hosts then charged down the right wing for a try in the corner after just two minutes. Ellingham were fired up and ran hard at the Pompey defenders, and five minutes later the referee had enough of Portsmouth being continually offside at the ruck, the resulting penalty in front of the posts put the visitors into an 8-0 lead. Portsmouth were having to defend well without getting their hands on the ball in the first half, but a brief spell of pressure resulted in a penalty turnover for not releasing the ball. Ellingham & Ringwood continued to run at the hosts and on 19 minutes a further penalty put them 11 points ahead. In the latter stages of the first half Portsmouth found themselves with more…
Portsmouth v Gosport & Fareham, Saturday 7th September 2024
Portsmouth travelled to Gosport for this first League fixture of the new season. Gosport kicked off and Portsmouth soon found them selves under pressure. Portsmouth gave a few penalties away which didn’t help their cause and soon found themselves 3-0 down after about 3 minutes. From the restart Portsmouth made inroads into the Gosport half through Fooks, but eventually Gosport got the ball back and pressed the Portsmouth line. Another penalty awarded to Gosport saw their lead increase to 6-0 after about 13 minutes. Gosport then had another chance to increase their lead with a penalty but the kick went wide. Portsmouth were defending their line when a loose ball got picked up by Gosport and they just had to drop on the ball for the first try of the match taking their lead to 13-0. Portsmouth managed to work themselves into the Gosport half but suddenly there was a…