Petersfield Rugby Club’s first team crashed to a comprehensive 74-7 defeat at Winchester in Hampshire 1 last Saturday (March 4).

Petersfield travelled to Winchester – who are currently second in the league – for what would prove to be a very tough encounter.

Winchester have a strong centre to wing combination and aggressively used this combination throughout the game, which caused Petersfield a lot of problems.

The first half was filled with many simple mistakes from Petersfield, which Winchester took full advantage of.

In the second half Petersfield changed their tactics and slightly covered the centre combination better in defence.

This led to Alex Evans securing an interception, which led to a try. The conversion was successfully added by Jake Bosher.

These seven points were a scant reward for a disappointing day for Petersfield, after a positive few weeks for the club.

While the first team were beaten at Winchester, there were some excellent results for some of Petersfield’s other senior sides.

Last Friday night (March 3) two matches were played simultaneously under lights – utilising two of Petersfield’s three floodlit pitches.

Petersfield’s veterans welcomed Portsmouth’s veterans. The two teams produced an exciting game – where skills often exceeded speed and fitness – with Petersfield running out 24-7 winners.

Petersfield’s second team entertained Chichester’s third team in the other floodlit game, with Field running out convincing 55-10 winners.

A huge home crowd played a massive role in both teams securing their wins.

On Sunday (March 5) Petersfield’s under-12 girls travelled to Havant for a “Pitch Up and Play” event where they were able to put their training skills into a game scenario.

Petersfield’s under-12s team is growing this year and the club are looking forward to their numbers expanding over the summer when they convert to touch rugby.

Chris Todd