Portsmouth took on Bournemouth 2nds on a very still day but at least it was not raining. The game was preceeded with a minutes silence with both teams lining up in front of the Clubhouse, in recognition of former Club President Peter Golding who sadly passed away peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday night. This was followed by a minutes applause by players and spectators alike.
Portsmouth got proceeding underway and Bournemouth straight away took the game to Portsmouth with a series of attacks until they eventually knocked on giving Portsmouth a scrum. From the scrum the ball went to Tawanda Matipano who made good ground before passing to Anthony Fooks who scored out wide, Gareth Davies was on target with the conversion and they led 7 – 0. with about 7 minutes gone. A lineout to Bournemouth following the restart saw them set up a good attack and suddenly they were through the Portsmouth defence without a hand being laid on their ball carrier to score a a try close to the posts. The kick was successful and the scores were level at 7 apiece with about 10 minutes gone. This was followed by a penalty awarded to the home side for offside. The kick, from between the 10 metre line and the 22 was successful and the score was now 10 – 7. An attempted drop goal by Davies just dropped short of the cross bar and Bournemouth set up another attack which was eventually repelled by Portsmouth with some good defensive work. A series of pick and goes by Portsmouth were stopped by Bournemouth . Bournemouth then had another scoring chance when they broke through the Portsmouth defense in intercepting a pass by Portsmouth and looked to have a clear run in under the posts but Portsmouth’s Kallen Wilke had other ideas and he just managed to tackle the attacker before he crossed the line. This resulted in a penalty to Portsmouth who were able to clear their lines with a good touch kick. The half time whistle went shortly after with the score still 10 – 7 to the home side.
The second half started with Bournemouth soon on the attack. camped in the Portsmouth 22 they broke through to score with their tall second row being tackled just short of the line but being able to reach out to score. The try was converted giving them a 10 – 14 lead on about 44 minutes. Shortly after this Portsmouth were penalised giving Bournemouth an easy penalty kick from almost in front of the posts. They duly converted this thus extending their lead to 10 – 17. Portsmouth then set up a promising attacking move started by Matipano and as he ran away from the opposition he was tripped by a Bournemouth player who was in turn pushed away by Bryn Rainford in a retaliatory gesture. This resulted in both players being yellow carded. During that period the game was mainly played between the 22’s with neither side being able to break through. However Portsmouth were eventually awarded a penalty which enabled them to get into the visitors half. Another penalty against Bournemouth saw another touch kick giving Portsmouth a 5 metre lineout. Winning good ball they quickly set up a drive for the try line and although crabbing sideways a bit and with the ball at the back of the maul safely in Adam Parks-Dare’s hands they drove ever closer to the try line and nearer the posts which saw Parks-Dare touch down. Davies was on target with the conversion and they had drawn level at 17 – 17. Adam insisted that the try was due to the good work of the forwards in front of him. From the restart Bournemouth set up another attack but good defence by Portsmouth kept them out. A loose ball from Bournemouth enabled Portsmouth to regain possession and they were able to kick the ball into touch and the final whistle went although it did seem to be a couple of minutes early.
This was not a good showing from Portsmouth especially after their game a couple of weeks ago against Havant. There were occasions when they looked very good and confidant but then that was followed often by lapses in concentration allowing tries to be scored. It must also be said that Bournemouth had several players back for this game that had missed the defeat by Havant last week who had all been fringe 1st XV players before. Certainly their No 10 was a good player and really controlled the game for them.
This result still sees Portsmouth in 5th place on 22 points. Bournemouth are in 11th place on 11 points. Elsewhere, Andover beat Gosport & Fareham 57 – 17 and next week’s opponents Bognor, lost to New Milton 39 – 25. Bognor are in 8th place on 12 points.
In the Clubhouse afterwards President Nigel Morgan made mention on former President Peter Golding and announced that the Portsmouth MoM was awarded to Anthony Fooks. This was presented my Mo Twells who sponsors this award.
TEAM
PHIL GILLILAND, BRAD ATKINS, LIAM AVIS
SAM FOSTER, FINN PARRY
ANTHONY FOOKS, LEE CHANDLER, ELLIOTT WORRALL
TOM SANDERSON, GARETH DAVIES
JOSH HOWELL-WILLIAMS, DAN GATES, KALLEN WILKE, CONNOR CHARLTON
TAWANDA MATIPANO
BENCH
ADAM PARKS-DARE, BRYN RAINFORD, HARRY DREW