Match report: New Milton RFC suffers 64-7 Hampshire COunties One defeat at the hands of second-placed Gosport & Fareham RFC 64
New Milton came up against an inspired Gosport & Fareham side who stormed to a 64-7 victory to pile more misery upon the heads of the bottom-of-the-league side on Saturday.
On a cold, dull afternoon, New Milton were a try down within just three minutes, and further poor tackling enabled Gosport & Fareham to run in for a second try five minutes later.
Scrum-half Dalton Thomas was unlucky for New Milton, touching the line with his foot whilst dodging their last defender so an easy run in try was chalked off.
The near-miss gave New Milton the spur for Jude Payne-Owen to power over a couple of plays later, with Thomas taking responsibility for the conversion and converting from an awkward angle.
The game then settled down, and it wasn’t until the 24th minute that the next score came. Gosport number eight Simon Trivett ran half the length of the field only to be stopped yards from the line, and the ball was recycled several times from one side of the pitch to the other for Gosport to score in the other corner.
A dubious penalty kicked to the corner gifted Gosport a further try from the resulting line-out before Trivett once again ran and bounced off many tackles before off-loading to the try-scorer, who made it 36-7 just ahead of the break.
After the break, the visitors dug deep and had chances, camping out in the opposition’s 22 for extended periods, but they were stopped short each time. The chance the typified this came when prop Hangil Chung ran from the 22, only to be tackled by two backtracking defenders on the line before being turned onto his back, unable to get the ball down. One of his teammates commented: “If he hadn’t had that extra chicken wing last night, he’d have made it.”
In the 64th minute, a red card for both teams saw the dynamics of the game change further, with New Milton losing a forward and Gosport losing a back. In a large scuffle, one of their backs put five or six piston-pumping fists into the largely unaffected mid-rift of the New Milton forward.
The relegation-threatened visitors kept plugging away, but with some tired legs and poor tackling, they couldn’t match Gosport, who finished the game comfortably ahead.
New Milton takes on third-placed rivals Ellingham & Ringwood at home on Saturday.
New Milton: H. Chung, G. Swamers, G. Shortland, J. Corbett, R. Richardson, G. Warne, S. Bew, J. Payne-Owen, D. Thomas, J. Eldridge, M. Russell, W. Pearson, A. Bolter-Jackson, R. Thomas, E. Lewis. Subs: Z. Smith, R. Thomas, L. Minardi.
