Portsmouth v Trojans, Saturday 11th January 2025, Counties 1 Hampshire League

Portsmouth v Trojans, Saturday 11th January 2025, Counties 1 Hampshire League

Portsmouth travelled the fairly short distance to Trojans for the return fixture. The weather was sunny with very little wind, a contrast to recent weeks.
The pitch was very slippery on the top surface but was better a bit deeper down.

Matt Higgins, playing 10 today, got the match underway and Portsmouth responded well. They pressed the Trojans line but could not quite get across the line. Trojans were under pressure which forced a number of penalties and Portsmouth took advantage to get on the score board after about 15 minutes giving them a 0-3 lead. Shortly after the restart skipper Aaron Beesley made a good break and passed to ball to a supporting back. Then threes really came to life with a very good handling move which went deep into the Trojans 22. Eventually Matt Higgins took the final pass and ran through to score close to the posts. He converted his own try and they now led 0-10 with about 18 minutes on the clock. More Portsmouth pressure gave Portsmouth another penalty converted by Higgins to extend their lead to 0-13. This lead was increased further when Trojans were penalised yet again and with Higgins again on target they extended their lead to 0-16. Portsmouth were also having success in stealing some of Trojans’ lineout ball, mainly through Sam Foster and Bryn Rainford, On one such occasion Rainford managed to intercept the throw and kicked up field. The ball was collected by Sam Olie who had raced through and he touched down wide out. Higgins was unable to convert so the score was now 0-21. and the half time whistle went shortly after.

Portsmouth were now playing with the sun behind them which with the sun getting lower should make life a bit easier. Unfortunately this was not the case. The game became rather disjointed and scrappy in contrast to the first half. They were still being pretty dominant but seemed unable to take real advantage of the situation. They came close to scoring on a few occasions but that 3rd try was proving rather difficult. Eventually their pressure told and from a good catch and drive from about 7 metres out Brad Atkins broke from the back of the maul and crossed for their 3rd try. The conversion missed and the score was now 0-26 on 50 minutes. They were now trying to get that important 4th try but it just wouldn’t come. Trojans were now becoming more adventurous in their play and set up some good moves through their backs which were causing Portsmouth a few problems. On one such occasion Trojans managed to break the deadlock and scored their first try of the match wide out. The conversion missed and the score was now 5-26. Portsmouth tried to get that 4th bonus point try but to no avail. Portsmouth were still pressing but eventually time ran out with the final whistle going signalling the end of the game.

This was the classic game of two halves. Portsmouth won the first half 0-1 but the second half finished with a 5 all draw. Throughout the game there were some good hard tackles from Portsmouth, especially from Adam Parks-Dare and Sam Foster on the forwards, Liam Glazebrook put in another good performance as did the two new lads Sam Floyd and Alex Buck. It was also good to see Gareth Davies back after his stint working in the USA. The backs also showed what they can do with some good moves.

This result sees us remain in 7th place on 34 points but had we scored a bonus point try that would have pushed us back to 6th. Still a win is a win so lets enjoy that.

Next week sees Portsmouth at home to Havant 2’s who are still top of the league. Recent games against Havant have always been hard fought matches and next weeks encounter will no doubt not be any different. The day is started with an U15’s match K.O. 11.30 a.m. followed by the 1’s and 2’s who K.O at 2.00p.m.

TEAM
ADAM PARKS-DARE, BRAD ATKINS, ANT FOOKS
SAM FOSTER, BRYN RAINFORD
LIAM GLAZEBROOK, SAM FLOYD, AARON BEESLEY(C)
GEORGE WRIGHT, MATT HIGGINS
WILL DALZIEL, SAM OLIE, BRAD JEWER, CONNOR CHARLTON
JAS SOLANKI

BENCH
ALEX BUCK, LEE CHANDLER, GARETH DAVIES