Counties Two Hampshire rugby: League leaders New Milton win again with dominant display over Chichester
Counties Two Hampshire
Chichester RFC II 20
New Milton RFC 43
NEW Milton won again to maintain their hold on the league’s summit, defeating Chichester seconds 43-20 in a game which had to be moved to another pitch following an injury.
New Milton outscored their hosts Chichester II on a sodden pitch by seven tries to three to take their league record to seven wins from the last eight games.
New Milton quickly made their way into the Chichester 22, where Jude Payne received the ball and burst through the defence to touch down.
The was followed soon after with a penalty quickly taken by Nick McQueen, who crossed the line for the game’s second try.
Chichester responded superbly, heading up the other end and scoring a converted try before successfully kicking a penalty.
With Chichester gaining momentum, the next score was vital and, after creating pressure on the try-line, McQueen drove through the defence to score.
From the kick-off, Chichester created pressure in the Milton 22, but Milton soon gained possession and, with good teamwork, ran the ball back, with McQueen taking the final pass to score his hat-trick try and Adam Lavis kicking the extras for a 24-10 half-time score.
The second 40 started with a New Milton turnover, kicked ahead by Christian Brown who out-ran the defenders to pick the ball up and touch down.
Milton then had to defend against relentless Chichester pressure on their try line, resulting in a try for Chichester. However, New Milton responded immediately, with Brown turning provider for Hungil Chung to weave his way through and score.
A loose ball was then picked up by Payne, who ran along the touch-line before being tackled just short, but Tom Gould, rewarded for his excellent support running, maintained possession before going over to score.
Chichester then won a line-out before driving over the line, but with the kicker unable to see the posts, the referee blew the final whistle.
Milton’s player of the match went to Jack Corbett, while Lewis Waugh successfully kicked three conversions.
New Milton: H. Chung, Z. Smith, T. Gould, G. Short, J. Corbett, J. Payne, B. Steers, N. McQueen, A. Lavis, C. Brown, L. Waugh, C. Jewiss, C. Hammerstone, C. Wood, D. Thomas, O. Woodhouse, T. Wood, A. Wignall.
