PETERSFIELD 27, FAREHAM HEATHENS 5

HAVING failed to beat Fareham Heathens in six encounters before this season, Petersfield broke their duck in November and, on Saturday, completed the double with a win that keeps them firmly on course for promotion.

Heathens, keen to strengthen their mid-table position in Hampshire 1, stunned the title challengers with a try straight from the kick-off at Penns Place. The visitors regained possession from their kick and set up a number of phases before driving over from close range.

It was some time before the ’Field backs had a chance to stretch their legs and run at the Fareham defence. Outside-centre Tom Franks fixed his man before feeding Paul Hogden who powered through the last despairing tackle on the right to scamper over the line. The usually solid Josh Haslett couldn’t beat the elements with the conversion.

Despite having territory and possession, Petersfield struggled to muster the clinical finish. Eventually, after a series of penalty scrums on the visitors’ five-metre line, they moved the ball out to stand-off Jack Glancy who had enough power and pace to elude a tackle and cross the line.

With the extras missed, the reds led 10-5 at the break and knew they would have to convert dominance into points if they were to secure the bonus-point win they needed to keep in touch with leaders New Milton.

But it was a case of more of the same as ’Field toiled in vain to find a way through the obdurate Heathens defence.

Finally, late in the third quarter, Petersfield got the breakthrough. Number 8 Harley Orr darted down the blindside from the back of a lineout maul on the 22m line. The prolific scorer caught the defence flat-footed and there was no-one to challenge him as he sprinted to the line, although very nearly going from hero to zero as he almost lost the ball as he crossed over.

The reds dominated the scrums, so it was almost a collector’s item for spectators when Heathens took one against the head. Normal service was soon resumed and another series of penalty scrums finally resulted in the pack trundling Orr over the line. For the fourth time, Haslett missed his kick, but at 20-5 ’Field had the win and bonus point in the bag.

And they finished off with their fifth try. Multiple phases in the 22 disrupted the Fareham defence enough for Glancy to burst over between the posts. This time, Haslett could not miss.

Petersfield coach James Alder said: “We were slow to start, but I was pleased at our dogged performance after the early score against us. Once again, the pack dominated the opposition and gave us a solid platform to attack. It’s been a very long time since the club did the double over Fareham and it was a credit to the team for gaining the bonus point.”

Alder singled out Ryan Morse as having had his best match of the season, while Dan Luff fully deserved his man-of-the match award.

With three fixtures remaining, Petersfield visit Romsey this Saturday, followed by home games against Chineham and New Milton.

It may take a miracle for the New Milton game to be the league decider, but ’Field will continue to fight for those precious bonus-point wins.