Eastleigh 24 - Ellingham and Ringwood 31

We travelled to Bishopstoke to play Eastleigh on Saturday in our rearranged Hampshire Counties Division 1 fixture. The original fixture was postponed because of the flooded Bishopstoke pitch and we were looking to follow up our excellent victory at Bournemouth last week.

Eastleigh, with their big forwards, got off to the better start on a very heavy pitch and following some good exchanges with their back line, their forwards scored the first try of the game from a driving maul. We didn't see much of the ball in the first half, but when we had it we made good use of it. Eventually we were able to get a good pass to our right wing Chris Frost and he surged through to score our first try. He was able to kick the conversion, which gave us the lead. It continued as a close fought contest and Eastleigh fought back to score their second try, which this time they were able to convert. Shortly before half time we were awarded a penalty which Chris Frost was able to kick to make the score 10-12 at half time.

Unfortunately our discipline let us down in the second half, despite our coach Kieran Spencer making it clear to his players that the only voice the referee should hear should be their captain and fly half Sammy Veneroso. As a result another penalty was awarded that Eastleigh kicked to extend their lead. Eastleigh continued to apply pressure close to our try line, but eventually the ball went lose and our outside centre Ben Carey raced away to score a great try and give team mate Chris Frost an easy conversion kick at goal. Ill discipline led to Eastleigh being awarded another penalty to give them the lead once more and at this point, our coach made some changes, bringing on Tom Sampson for Adam Payne in the front row and Corben Hills for Chris Hancock at blindside flanker. Ellingham's forwards started to click and from a great driving maul Corben Hills was able to crash over for Ellingham's third try of the game, which again Chris Frost was able to convert. But once again, Ellingham allowed Eastleigh back into the game as they were awarded another penalty, which they kicked to reduce the deficit.

By this time, we were playing well and our open-side flanker Ted Johnson drove hard through some tackles inside his own half. Lock forward James Fisher took over and three Ellingham players ran clear of the fading Eastleigh defence. Unselfishly, the ball was passed out to fly half and captain Sammy Veneroso, who scored the bonus point try under the posts, which Chris Frost converted. But it still wasn't all over, as with the clock running down we again allowed Eastleigh back into the game when we conceded another penalty, giving the home side another easy kick at goal, which earnt them a losing bonus point. This result moves us up into sixth place in Hampshire Counties Division 1, following our promotion into this league last season.