PETERSFIELD 3, PORTSMOUTH 51

IN their first London 3SW match of 2018, Petersfield were not only given a nine-try thumping by Portsmouth, but incurred several injuries as well.

With Portsmouth striving for a promotion slot, it was always going to be a tough ask for ’Field who were keen to improve on the 39-15 defeat they suffered in September.

With the floodlights on, Petersfield’s hopes took an early knock – after two minutes to be precise – when stand-in hooker Harley Orr went off with a suspected foot fracture.

Front row Zaren Hawkes came on and ’Field continued their energetic start, going toe-to-toe with more experienced opponents. On ten minutes, though, the home side were undone in open play as close support and quick recycling resulted in a try for Tom Whitehouse, converted by Curtis Barnes.

The ’Field faithful then had the worrying sight of feisty flanker Toby Sydenham also retiring injured. Former captain Gareth Crane made a welcome return after a long absence and, from the restart, Portsmouth were pressured into conceding a penalty which was slotted over by Nick Blumlein.

The reds held out for another five minutes before the visitors swung the ball wide and beat the defence on the wing for Whitehouse to score his second try, unconverted.

So far, so ominous. Petersfield are made of stern stuff, but the rugby gods were against them and captain Dan Luff was helped off with an ankle injury. With the home side now unable to field a specialist front row, the scrums became uncontested and ’Field were down to one replacement.

Sydenham returned to the fray, but Portsmouth No 8 Rhys Bowen crossed the line – Barnes converted – and it was 19-3. Luckless Petersfield lost lock Alex Patience with possible concussion and promising youngster Jordan Allan was on the field before half-time.

Like Monty Python’s Black Knight, ’Field went straight back on the offensive and Blumlein’s penalty kick sailed agonisingly wide early in the second half.

Finally, midway through the third quarter, Luke Simmons’ fine solo run gave Portsmouth their fourth try.

Utility player Matt Momber was escorted to the bench with what turned out to be a fractured eye socket and ’Field were down to 14 with nearly half-an-hour to go.

With a guaranteed overlap, the visitors merely had to fling the ball wide and despite Petersfield’s valiant efforts to prevent distribution, the uneven contest gave Portsmouth five more tries in the last quarter, with Finn Parry, Simmons, Mark Ovens (2) and Stewart Davies all crossing the line.

“I give full credit to my players for digging in and keeping Portsmouth honest,” said coach James Alder. “Even with long spells in defence, we continued to play positive rugby and with changes throughout the team everyone showed that they deserved to wear the shirt.”

This Saturday, Petersfield play a re-arranged league fixture at New Milton.