OLD EMANUEL 43, PETERSFIELD 10

PETERSFIELD faced their toughest London 3SW fixture of the season with one metaphorical arm tied behind their back.

Sixteen senior for various reasons and with ’Field one short of the full complement of 18, head coach James Alder added himself to the squad that faced unbeaten leaders Old Emanuel at New Malden.

Within two minutes, Will Jameson was off for treatment and Alder was called into action.

On the next play, Patrick Lufkin went over for Emanuel’s first converted try. By the time Jameson had been patched up, captain Jamie Clarke had added five further points.

With Jameson back in harness, the visitors put together some strong forward drives and the untested centre pairing of Kieran Gericke and Seb Tuff moved play well beyond the gain line.

’Field had little to show for their endeavour in the first half, but to the credit of forwards Ryan Morse, Franco Tomíc and Alex Patience, the reds had at least gained a foothold in home territory.

Old Emanuel were well-drilled going forward and defended strongly, but debutant Jake Leach and man of the match (again) Toby Sydenham kept them honest with some terrific line-breaking runs.

Even so, Charlie Whiteley crossed over for Emanuel and the bonus-point fourth try followed from Tom Cuff-Burnett. Whiteley touched down again before Petersfield hit back. More pressure from the pack, notably skipper Dan Luff, Sam Brown and Dave Head, earned a penalty and Joshh Haslett slotted it over to make it 31-3 at the break.

The second half began with the reds again under pressure, but, remarkably, OEs conceded more than 20 penalties to Petersfield’s clean slate. Full-back Gareth MacGillivray and centre Tuff prevented further scores, while Dan Giles showed commitment and confidence on his step-up from 3rd to 1st XV rugby.

’Field finally turned defence into attack with driving runs from Leach, Sydenham and replacement Mark Butcher, gaining good territory for Sydenham – who else given his record to date? – to cross for his side’s only try of the game, converted by Haslett.

Smarter play at the breakdown finally paid off for the leaders. Clarke dribbled his way over and coach Adam Rozenburg scored his side’s seventh and last try.

Alder, after a late final cameo, was keen to point out the positives. “The scrum held firm all game and we never took a backward step. We have not used our availability issues as an excuse and, even with a different line-up each week, the players all work hard to be competitive.

“Long term, it is great to be able to introduce this level of rugby to some of the so-called fringe players, but our short-term goal must be to start collecting more points.”

Petersfield host Basingstoke at Penns Place this Saturday. ‘Stoke may be bottom, but they worked hard in their last outing to gain their first point of the season and cannot be under-estimated.