Today’s match was preceded by the Past Player’s lunch with over 90 people attending, and memories of games played long ago which meant that many an exaggeration was made in the telling. It was also a milestone for Geoff the ref, as this was his 1000th game since he started refereeing. His very first game was refereeing Portsmouth which was why he had asked to do this match. It was also the occasion when the Reilly family, who were present, presented a cup to the Club in memory of Ken Reilly who sadly passed away in December, last year. The cup is called the Ken Reilly Kicking Cup and will be presented to the player who wins the kicking competition which will be held shortly. The winner will be on the Honours board recently put up above the bar in Ken’s memory.
Gosport got the game underway kicking into a stiff breeze. Portsmouth put in a series of attacks but just couldn’t hold on the ball in the crucial moments. Portsmouth had a chance to take a 3 point lead from a penalty but the kick went wide. A penalty against Gosport together with a 10mt gain to Portsmouth as a result of back chat to the ref from Gosport saw Portsmouth in a better position for a kick at goal which Matt Higgins duly converted giving Portsmouth a 3-0 lead with about 15 minutes gone. Portsmouth then lost prop Alex Buck with a neck injury. His place was taken by John Pearson. He moved to hooker with Fooks going to prop. With the game being played mainly in the Gosport half, helped no doubt, by the following wind,
Portsmouth had a scrum and a clean heel saw the ball speed across the backs and Brad Jewer finished off the move with a well taken try giving Portsmouth and 8-0 lead on 38 minutes. That score remained until the half time whistle went.
The second half got underway with Leo Wall coming off to be replaced by Luke Simmons making a welcome return after a hamstring injury together with work commitments. Portsmouth also lost second row Sam Foster to a knee injury and he was replaced by Lee Chandler who went on the backrow and Liam Glazebrook moving to the second row. Portsmouth started out in the second half much as they had in the first with a good scrum which saw the ball swiftly moved across the backs and with the final pass finding winger Connor Charlton who broke one tackle and raced away to run round and dot down close to the posts. Matt Higgins duly obliged with the conversion and the score was now 15-0 on 45 minutes.
Gosport were now finding the advantage of playing with a following wind and scored a try of their own shortly after which was converted, narrowing the lead to 15-7. This was not helped with Eban Skinner getting a yellow card which meant both second rows were off the pitch. With the game swinging to and fro, it was the home side’s turn to score the next try after a good move from the 3’s which saw a great run by Leo Wall with the ball eventually getting to Luke Simmons who took the final pass to score out wide. The conversion missed and the gap was now 20-7 with 65 minutes on the clock. And that was with only 14 players on the pitch.
Another good try from Portsmouth saw Sam Floyd finish the move off with a try close to the posts, the conversion missed and the score was now 25-7. This was Portsmouth’s 4th try, giving them an important bonus point. As the end of the game got closer so the ferocity stepped up a notch with both side giving no quarter. However with 10 minutes remaining Gosport were next on the score board with a converted try that closed the gap to 24-14. This was followed by another Gosport try taking the score to 25-19. Gosport then were awarded a penalty but instead of taking a scrum they elected to take the kick which was converted but left them trailing by 3 points at 25-22.
With a scrum awarded to Portsmouth and the ref stating this was the last play, Portsmouth managed to lose the ball and get penalised in the process. A kick to touch by Gosport saw them with a lineout 10 metres from the try line. They won the ball but with a superhuman effort Portsmouth managed to drive them into touch and the final whistle went with a narrow victory to Portsmouth. What happened next was a bit confusing as Portsmouth were jumping with joy and in a big huddle when suddenly it is alleged that a Gosport spectator ran to the home side and took a swing at a Portsmouth player, where upon all of the players joined in the scuffle. Eventually order was restored and the players shook hands in the time honoured fashion.
Back in the Clubhouse after the game Portsmouth made a presentation to the ref in honour of his 1000th match together with his long association with the club.
With this the final game of the season our position was 7th in the league, We were 9th leading up to this game. The rather frustrating situation is that we finished on 51 points with a points difference of +137. Guernsey finished 6th on 52 points but with a points difference of -63. Bognor were 5th on 52 points with a points difference of -137. They had won more games than Guernsey. On the points difference +/-
1st – Havant +870
2nd – Ellingham & Ringwood +317
3rd – Basingstoke +64
4th – Gosport & Fareham +185
5th – Bognor -137
6th – Guernsey -63
7th – Portsmouth +137
TEAM
PHILL GALLILAND, ANT FOOKS, ALEX BUCK
EBEN SKINNER, SAM FOSTER
LIAM GLAZEBROOK, SAM FLOYD, AARON BEESLEY(C)
ELLOIT DAVIS, MATT HIGGINS
CONNOR CHARLTON, SAM OLIE, LEO WALL, BRAD JEWER
JAZ SOLANKI
BENCH
JOHN PEARSON, LEE CHANDLER, LUKE SIMMONS