On yet another very wet and cold Sunday morning, we set off for an away friendly against Basingstoke.

 Although we were missing a few key players we nevertheless arrived with a squad of 19. Sam Welch had broken another finger during the week yet bravely turned up in case we were short and fortunately he was able to sit this one out.

We decided to strengthen our backs by playing both Cameron Wicks and Aarran Watkins out of their usual position in the pack, to form a formidable pair in the centre. This worked well from the start and within the first 10 minutes Cameron made a terrific break in the centre of the field which took him to within 2 metres of the line when he was tackled from behind, illegally, with a high tackle. The referee awarded the penalty try, which Dylan Saralis converted. Unfortunately that was the end of the match for Cameron who looked to have suffered a bad knee injury from the tackle. Losing Cameron was a blow but the boys rallied and continued to play good rugby and pressurise the opposition. We conceded a try when their full-back caught a high kick and ran wide into the corner. Half-time produced a deserved 7-5 lead.

We continued to take the game to the opposition in the second half. Our forwards worked hard as a unit with Jack Pinto, as always ,arriving early at the breakdown with William Deans (Beno) and Will Foster punching holes in the oppositions defense. Kit Gaskin, in particular was really on his game showing high levels of aggression in contact. The front row which alternated between Pete Dawson, Callum Crowley , Tom Rudman and Ryan Mayo were solid from the start and worked hard to win some good ball. Harry Boll made some important tackles covering the whole pitch while Will Black was again looking sharp and communicating well. Dylan continued to keep the forwards moving upfield with good kicks to touch and good hands to set up the backs. Arran was as influential as ever with his outstanding tackling, and full-back Gareth Robinson showed snapshots of his impressive pace, despite playing out of his normal position.

Early in the second half all this good work paid-off with Will Foster using his impressive pace and power to go over near the corner. This made the score 12-5. Some poor tackling out wide allowed Basingstoke to pull back a try and with approx 15 minutes left to play, the score was 12 – 10.

Alton were still very much in the ascendency, going close on several occasions. Beno eventually made a charge for another well deserved try for Alton. Dylan slotted a straightforward conversion to make the score 19-10. Basingstoke followed this with a try under the posts which was in fact dropped and should not have been awarded. The referee acknowledged his mistake which Alton accepted and used this to galvanise themselves once more. The score was now 19 – 17 with Alton still very much on top and looking very positive when in possession. Ben Turner was having one of his best games with some good handling and strong running. Peter Harvey and Nathaniel Ward were both showing good handling skills in difficult conditions while Mark Hammett was holding his position well and covering his opposite number. Again we showed great spirit with Will Foster powering over a second time for a typical try. Will has a great habit of scoring a try just when Alton need it. Dylan followed this with a great conversion from wide, using the wind and clipping the inside top of the far post. 26-17. Once again some poor tackling out wide let Basingstoke in to score a try. Final Score 26-22.

A very good performance with all 18 players contributing well. The effort was maintained from the first to the last minute and this win was well deserved.

Well done also to the parents who once again provided great verbal support in horrible conditions.

Al Saralis