Counties Two Hampshire rugby: Table-topping New Milton overwhelm Eastleigh
Counties Two Hampshire
New Milton RFC 80
Eastleigh RFC II 5
League leaders New Milton dominated bottom-of-the-league Eastleigh seconds in a contest highlighting the gulf between the sides.
The Eastleigh forwards played well in the scrums and lineouts, but New Milton quickly gained possession from tackle ruck turnovers, and their passing game worked well, outscoring Eastleigh 12 tries to one.
Milton attacked from the kick-off and, after a series of rucks, Joe Eldridge showed decent pace to run in and score from the halfway line.
A penalty to Eastleigh gave them a line-out on halfway, but Milton gained possession, and with the team passing well, Zac Smith touched down.
Eastleigh responded well, winning a penalty before kicking for a line-out on the Milton five-metre line, which the forwards collected and pushed over for a try.
The hosts responded immediately, gaining possession from a scrum in the Eastleigh 22 before Charlie Jewiss outpaced the defence to score.
New Milton retained possession in the tackles and switched the attack from one side to the other, which resulted in Tom Wood running clear for a touchdown and Jewiss scoring another for his brace.
A series of penalties gave Eastleigh possession in the Milton 22, sparking a period of defence for Milton close to their tryline. However, the pressure broke when Adam Lavis gained possession from a tackle. He passed out to Tom Gould, who broke through the defence before Christian Brown crossed for another.
With the break moments away, Connor Hammerstone used his pace to run in for the final try of the half, all of which he had converted, including a couple from and near the touchline for a 49-5 half-time lead.
Milton's potent running game continued to pile on the points in the second half. First, Christian Brown ran in to score his second, followed by Dalton Thomas running in from halfway.
After further scores from Josh Lines, Ollie Woodhouse and Dan Mallard, the captains and the referee agreed to call an end to the match.
Hammerstone converted three second-half tries, taking his points tally to an impressive 25 points. However, Jewiss was New Milton's player of the match.
New Milton currently sit atop the league table with eight wins from nine games, two points ahead of second-placed Bognor RFC.
New Milton: H. Chung, Z. Smith, T. Gould, B. Steers, J. Corbett, O. Woodhouse, T. Wood, N. McQueen, A. Lavis, C. Brown, C. Conacher, C. Jewiss, C. Hammerstone, J. Eldridge, D. Thomas, D. Mallard, J. Lines, L. Thomas.
