Petersfield Colts 55pts, Overton Colts 48pts

PETERSFIELD Colts remained top of league after a close win against Overton.

Having re-scheduled a postponed match rather than take a walk over, Petersfield’s high-flying Colts met their Overton counterparts on Sunday, only to find that the visitors could only muster 12 players. Once more reflecting the spirit of rugby, Petersfield matched numbers to make a game of it.

Petersfield got off to a good start using the extra space on the pitch to move the ball through the hands with Heath finishing off in the corner for a classic winger’s try. Matthews converted in windy conditions.

Overton didn’t take long to respond and scored two tries in quick succession despite Petersfield initially having a bit more of the play. In a match that was closer in style to 10-per-side rather than 15-per-side rugby, tries were exchanged between sides, with Heath adding to his tally, and Matthews joining in with Thomson to add to Petersfield’s score line.

At half-time, the home side held a decent lead at 36-22.

In the second half, Overton came back into the game strongly and the packs fought for dominance at the break down. In a tiring competition Overton, to their credit, battled back to tie the score at 43-43 to set up a thrilling conclusion, Hirst finally scoring for Petersfield having previously fumbled the ball at the crucial moment when at the whitewash.

Woods and White crucially edged Petersfield ahead again before Overton scored the last try of the game.

It was an open, free-scoring game to which all of the players were fully commited and fully justified the decision to continue with the fixture despite the hiccups along the way.

Cowlrick was named man of the match for Petersfield with his fine distribution of the ball, decision making and kicking prowess, with honourable mentions for Woods and Stevens.