ALTON 111, STONEHAM 7

AS the score suggests, this Hampshire Plate tie was a bit of a mis-match between Alton (Hampshire 1) and Stoneham (Hampshire 2), although the visitors never gave up.

Before the kick-off, Ed Thomas, skipper for the day, accompanied by his mother and sister, performed a small ceremony in memory of his father, Mike Thomas, who was involved with Alton RFC for more than 40 years as a player, chairman and junior coach. The club will sorely miss him.

Within 30 seconds of kick-off, an inspired Ed Thomas had intercepted a pass in the Stoneham 22 to open the scoring, Cameron Hamer adding the extras.

With their young set of backs Alton quickly realised they could easily outrun their opponents and, by half-time, had built a 61-7 lead, scoring nine tries, eight of which were converted by Hamer.

It was more of the same in the second half as Alton ran in a further eight tries. Hamer added four conversions, while Thomas grabbed a further, cheeky, two points with a drop-kick conversion.

Of Alton’s 17 tries, Karter Whitlock and Oliver Burden both scored hat-tricks and Ryan Bale, Mike Robson and Kenneth Steel all claimed two. There was one apiece for Ed Thomas, Bren Sumner, Jess Powell, Harry Thomas and newcomer Matt Sellstrom.

The week before, Alresford, now a?Hampshire Premier side, visited Anstey Park for a warm-up game. It was a useful practice match for both sides, with Alresford winning 24-44.

Alresford visit Basingtoke in a league local derby this Saturday.

• Alton will be competing in Hampshire 1 of the restructured county leagues this season and open their campaign this Saturday with a trip to Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. They will be accompanied by their 2nd XV who play the home side in Hampshire Merit Table 4 (ko 3pm).

• Farnham open their London 2SW campaign with a match at Old Tonbridgians on Saturday.

• Petersfield travel to Portsmouth in their opening London 3 SW fixture. Petersfield 2nd XV move up a grade and will compete in Hampshire 2, starting with a home match against Winchester III on Saturday.

Petersfield warmed up for the league season with a 26-24 win over Weybridge Vandals at Penns Place on Saturday.

All the players got a good run-out in an extended game.

In the first half, ’Field dominated territory and possession and should have won the session at a canter. But they eschewed penalty kicks in favour of keeping the ball in hand, trading easy points for valuable time to bed in the new players. It was a familiar story as the Reds destroyed opposing scrums and lineouts and will hope to continue this strength in the season proper.

The backs came together nicely and two tries gave Petersfield a 12-5 lead at half-time.

The second half was different and ’Field were under the cosh for much of the time.

Weybridge drew level with a converted try before Nick Blumlein scampered in for a try by the posts, making his conversion a formality.

Vandals’ relentless pressure was rewarded with two more tries and they led with just five minutes to go. However, the Reds were in a good attacking position when the visitors fumbled the ball and after drawing level with another try, snatched victory as Blumlein casually drop-kicked the conversion.

• Haslemere’s Surrey 4 season does not start until September 22, when they play Reigate away.