PETERSFIELD 25, FARNBOROUGH 13

PETERSFIELD, already the Hampshire 1 champions, celebrated St George’s Day at Penns Place by picking up the Hampshire Plate to round off a season that has defied all expectations.

Having escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth last year, ’Field have transformed into a well-drilled machine this campaign.

On Sunday, they beat a physically imposing Farnborough side in the Plate final, thereby securing an unlikely, but very welcome league and cup double.

While Petersfield had comfortably beaten Farnborough in their two league encounters, ’Borough had put in a strong finish to a lacklustre season. Having lost 14 out of 16 matches, Farnborough rose from the canvas at the start of March to comfortably win their last four games. Alas, they still finished second from bottom in the table.

’Field were unable to repeat the try-fest of two weeks before against New Milton, but the game again showcased the side’s ability to soak up punishment and come back swinging.

The Reds’ defence has been head-and-shoulders above all others in the league and again they did not disappoint, notably when preventing an almost certain score at the end of the third quarter that would have given Farnborough the lead for the first time and, quite probably, the match.

As it was, ’Field turned over an attacking five-metre scrum and fought their way back up the pitch to score the final try.

The final began badly for the hosts when skipper and prop Dan Luff turned his ankle in the first contact of the game. However, ’Borough were profligate with penalties and it was Petersfield who took an early lead through the unerring boot of Josh Haslett.

The lead didn’t last long. ’Field were penalised from the restart and James Windle kicked the points for Farnborough. Thereafter, penalties and injury stoppages bedevilled the match, with neither side able to impose their game plans.

Then Petersfield scrum-half Michael Robbins was ‘taken out’ as he tapped a quick penalty and the ensuing handbags led to home centre Tom Franks joining the original culprit in the sin-bin and a reversal of the penalty.

The Reds cleared their lines, however, and the game continued in stop-start fashion, with ’Field only making real ground through penalties conceded by their opponents.

Finally, a chance came to break and stand-off Jack Glancy ran a diagonal line towards the left before chipping back inside for Seb Tuff to scorch through and score the first try of the match. Haslett added the conversion.

Farnborough missed a penalty and then picked up another yellow card before Petersfield crossed the line for a second time. Flanker Gareth Crane made a lung-busting run in support of his backs and got on the end of a chip through by Tuff to extend the lead.

A first half that stretched to 52 minutes ended with Haslett kicking another penalty and Petersfield took an 18-3 lead into the second half.

But now it was ’Field conceding costly penalties and collecting cards, allowing Farnborough’s massive pack to play their driving game to good effect. Their first try came from a penalty line-out drive, with Scott Kelly grounding the ball, and they followed up with a push-over try by skipper Richard Graham, this after Franko Tomic was sin-binned.

Now it was 18-13 with 23 minutes left and ’Borough were again knocking on the door at the start of the final quarter as Petersfield conceded penalties. Solid defence allowed them to turn the ball over and finally clear their lines.

A late push by the Reds eventually won them territory and a penalty, with ’Borough losing another man to the bin.

The penalty line-out won, Glancy fed Tuff at pace and the quicksilver assassin broke both tackles and Farnborough’s hearts as he raced through for the final try. Haslett’s conversion was the final act of the game and put the cherry on the icing of a large and tasty cake for Petersfield.

Petersfield coach James Alder said: “You don’t plan to lose a player within seconds of the kick-off, so to have our inspirational captain and best tighthead prop sidelined so early meant that all the players had to step up. We are fortunate to have a number of leaders, but it was vice-captain Toby Sydenham who stepped up to the plate to fill Dan’s big shoes and put in a man-of-the-match performance.

“Farnborough brought a big team and we didn’t have the solid scrum platform we have enjoyed for most of the season. However, when the chance came to break we showed what we could do and scored some wonderful tries with soft hands and lightning pace.”

The next rugby action at Penns Place will be the 21st Petersfield Pub Sevens on Sunday, May 30 when team-mates will become opponents just for one day.