Match report: New Milton RFC delivered their best performance of the season but returned home empty-handed after a 36-19 defeat against Basingstoke RFC in Hampshire Counties One
New Milton brushed off the effects of a miserable season and delivered their best performance of the campaign, but bad luck and mistakes at key moments cost them against Basingstoke on Saturday.
The hosts made a bright start to the game, immediately putting the league’s fourth-placed side under pressure. With 10 minutes played, it was all New Milton, and their dominance resulted in a kick-through that was collected by Rylan Pearce, who ran through and touched down.
Basingstoke looked shell-shocked, but after 14 minutes, they scored against the run of play. The score stung more than usual, with many watching feeling that the match officials had not noticed obvious forward passes
Eight places in the league table separate the two sides, but with 20 minutes played, you would never have guessed that New Milton were the lower-placed side, with Basingstoke hardly venturing outside their half.
Basingstoke kept looking to break out from deep in their half, but New Milton regained the lead with 27 minutes played. New Milton stalwart Lyndon Booker, who has returned to the first-team line-up in recent months, collected possession and drove over the line in the corner.
The New Milton forwards regularly pushed the bigger Basingstoke pack back, while the backs made the game entertaining and a pleasure to watch.
Then, with 36 minutes played, Basingstoke’s moment in the sun came. They worked the ball from one side of the pitch to the other to score in the corner.
A penalty against New Milton, which was taken quickly, was brought back after no advantage for not being 10m. The resulting re-take was put into the corner, where Basingstoke won the line-out and pushed over a well-executed rolling maul to snatch a half-time lead of 19-12.
The New Milton team were stringing together lovely attacks, one of which saw a player run through half the Basingstoke team before being penalised for a dubious knock-on when grounding the ball. However, the visitors were clinical, converting their chances to increase their lead.
Alex Bolter-Jackson ran in a good New Milton attack to score in the corner and narrow the scores to 31-19 to leave the hosts hunting a fourth try, which would give them a well-earned bonus point.
In the dying seconds, the hosts dived over in the corner, much to the delight of the watching fans and players from a game that had finished on the other pitch. However, it was chalked off by the linesman who had seen something go into touch.
New Milton are on their travels for their next match when they take on Trojans, who sit one place higher in the league.
New Milton: H. Chung, L. Booker, G. Shortland, J. Corbett, L. Thompson, R. Pearce, T. Hawkins, T. Wood, D. Thomas, J. Eldridge, R. Thomas, A. Bolter-Jackson, N. Smith, M. Mycroft, N. Miller. Subs: H. Duell-Merritt, M. Russell, Z. Smith.
