PETERSFIELD 5, WARLINGHAM 11

THE mid-week friendly fixture against the Royal Navy was probably a step too far for Petersfield.

Whatever the reason, Saturday’s fare at Penns Place was no so much Christmas cracker than leftover turkey as ’Field contrived to lose to a Warlingham side who seemed to be there for the taking.

Petersfield started brightly enough in the London 3SW fixture, even with centre Seb Tuff sin-binned after just two minutes for what was deemed a dangerous tackle. The visitors constantly infringed at the breakdown as they attempted to slow things down, but Petersfield shoved the visitors back with impunity and looked well on the way to victory after easing into the lead.

The try was pure Petersfield as the pack drove Warlingham off their own put-in at the scrum and the ball was fed quickly through the hands to left-wing Eddie Matthews who dotted down in the corner.

Nick Blumlein’s conversion was on target, but lacked the legs to reach the posts.

Unexpectedly, however, these were Petersfield’s only points in what turned out to be a drab slogathon of a match.

’Field tried hard but were complicit in their own downfall, with too many passes failing to find a player or stick in the hands when they did. Poor decision-making in the wrong areas of the pitch and Warlingham’s decent line speed compounded the home side’s problems.

Attempts by Petersfield to force play through clever chips and kicks simply resulted in possession being given to Warlingham. Regular ’Field watchers know that this route very rarely bears fruit.

Warlingham cut the deficit with a penalty in the second quarter and, minutes later, took the lead with a breakaway try after turning ’Field over while defending deep in their own 22. The conversion attempt from wide out hit the posts and stayed out.

The second half was a patchy, stop-start affair. Both sides missed penalties, but Warlingham finally nailed one to stretch their slender lead.

Petersfield mounted a last-ditch charge, courtesy of a number of penalties, and got to within five metres before opting for a penalty scrum which collapsed twice before the red pack could get it moving. On the second occasion, the ball was spun out to the backs, only for Warlingham’s defence to force a knock-on and so end the game.

Despite this setback, ’Field remain seventh in the league courtesy of the losing bonus point. It has been a steep learning curve for the promoted Reds, but their overall performance and attitude should stand them in good stead for the second half of the season.

• Petersfield 2nd XV put a disjointed first-half performance behind them to beat Alresford II 17-0 in their Solent 2 fixture at Penns Place. Try-scorers for ’Field were Tim Thomas after a well-worked move and wing Jordan Allen who flew over after a quick tap-and-go.

• ’Field players return to action at Penns Place on Boxing Day for the traditional President’s XV versus Exiles XV match (ko 12 noon).