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 New Milton who added to their score with a second penalty making it 6-10 on 24 minutes. Portsmouth were having problems with the lineout but eventually they scored through Aaron Beesley but the referee ruled it out as he had touched down on the 5 metre line by mistake. The same thing happened last season when we played here. Fortunately he soon made amends when from a scrum he broke clear and scored out wide. The conversion missed but their lead was now 6-15 with about 4 minutes of the half remaining. New Milton pressed hard for a score but good defense kept them out. Portsmouth then added to their score with a well worked try scored by Olie Avis. Again the kick missed but the score was now 6-20 and the half time whistle went just after the last score.
The second half got underway with Louis Bristow going on to prop, with Adam Parks-Dare coming off. The Portsmouth pack were giving a very good account of themselves, often pushing their opponents right off the ball. Sam Foster also came off with Lee Chandler taking his place, Liam Glazebrook showed his pace when he ran from his 22 right into the opposition 22 before he was tackled. The first score of the second half came from a penalty to Portsmouth converted by Solanki, taking the score to 6-23 on 59 minutes. From a 5 metre scrum Portsmouth drove their opponents back and Liam Glazebrook picked up the ball and scored out wide. This time Solanki converted the try taking the score to 6-30 on 62 minutes. That was their 4 try and a bonus point.
Parks-Dare then went back on as Liam Glazebrook came off. New Milton were under some pressure and they threw out a rather speculative ball that went to no one in particular. Sam Olie was aware of what was happening and he quickly sped through to touch down with ball almost under the posts. Solanki was again on target and the score was now 6-37 on 69 minutes.
New Milton were now getting a bit frustrated as they were desperate to score a try but good defense kept them out. Almost on the stroke of half time there was a bit of a tussle with one Portsmouth player lying on the ground, appearing to be kicked in the back. More scuffles broke out and the upshot was a red card issued to Beesley with the final whistle going immediately after.
This was a good result for Portsmouth, apart from the red card, although they struggled at times with the lineout and sometimes handling let them down resulting in missed opportunities.
Portsmouth’s position in the table sees them move up to 9th on 12 points, just 1 point ahead of Bognor. Bournemouth 2nds are only 3 points ahead on 15 as they lost to Effingham & Ringwood 7-25. Bournemouth are next week’s opponents so that promises to be a close match.
All matches for November, December, January and February are a 2.00pm kick off unless played under lights. Please make a note so you don’t miss any of the game. This is an R.F.U ruling.
TEAM
LIAM AVIS, ANT FOOKS, ADAM PARKS-DARE
MATT HOBAN, BRYN RAINFORD
SAM FOSTER, LIAM GLAZEBROOK, AARON BEESLEY (C)
GEORGE WRIGHT, JAS SOLANKI
HARVEY FIELD, OLIE AVIS, SAM OLIE, BRAD JEWER
MATT HIGGINS
BENCH
LOUIS BRISTOW, LEE CHANDLER, ALI MACDONALD