Alton 58pts, Fareham Heathens 17pts

THIS much-awaited fixture, at least for Alton, gave them the opportunity to avenge their defeat by the Heathens by just six points in last April’s Hampshire RFU Plate final when the Silverbacks were in a lower division.

However, the match didn’t get off to a particularly auspicious start as Alton failed to gather Heathens’ kick-off, giving their visitors an opportunity for an unconverted try and an early 5-0 lead.

Having been rudely awakened, the Silverbacks camped in Fareham’s half and some good passing moves pressurised the visitors’ defence into giving away a penalty, which Joe Gwyther gladly converted to cut the deficit to 5-3.

And they added to this score just a couple of minutes later when a pass which missed out two players ended up in the safe hands of centre David Shepherd who gladly accepted the try on offer to put Alton ahead for the first time at 8-5.

This only served to goad Heathens back into action and seven minutes later they set-up a drive following a lineout ten metres out and forced their way over for a converted try to retake the lead 12-8.

The Silverbacks replied with a drive of their own, prop Nick Stoffel stretching to his full height to give Gwyther a relatively simple conversion to put Alton ahead once more at 15-12.

For the next ten minutes Alton kept the pressure up with a number of clean handling moves, and although Ollie Burden believed he had scored, he was deemed to have knocked-on in the act of doing so. But winger Ryan Bale made amends when he finished off a backs’ move soon after. Gwyther again added the conversion as Alton put a little daylight between the two sides at 22-12. But with half-time looming, Alton again conceded from a lineout and Fareham cut the gap to 22-17.

Within two minutes off the restart Fareham dropped the ball during a passing move, the Silverbacks hacked it on, and Karter Whitlock ran in from the left to touch down beneath the posts. Gwyther added the extras for a 29-17 lead.

And midway through the second half it was newcomer Andy Tart’s turn when he scored his first try for Alton in his first game for the club, Ollie Burden made a solo break a few minutes later and was awarded a well-deserved try, and Chris Gregory athletically crashed his way through the visitors’ defence to release Jez Powell who scampered in for his second try in two matches to put the Silverbacks out of sight at 46-17.

He was followed a minute or so later when Edward Passfield finished off a quick handling move from a lineout, and he repeated his effort some ten minutes later, Gwyther bringing the game to an end at 58-17 with his conversion.

The Silverbacks have learned from the last week’s game when they showed too much respect to their opposition. And although Fareham Heathens never stopped trying, Alton should take pride in the way they approached this match, especially in the second half.

This fourth consecutive win, with a try-scoring bonus, has lifted the Silverbacks points tally to 24, level with league leaders Petersfield, who on Saturday failed to earn a try bonus for the first time this season. Petersfield lead the league because their points difference is 27 better than Alton.

This sets up a fascinating top-of-the-table clash on Saturday when the two sides meet at Penns Place in Petersfield (kick-off 3pm).