Alton forwards encamped on Heathens line

The warm and breezy weather during the week allowed Alton to resume playing on the main pitch in Anstey Park however their defensive frailties again let them down and their future in Snows Hampshire One will now depend on others.

Alton began well enough encamping in Heathen’s half and would have scored a well-earned try had the last pass not gone forward.

Fareham realised that they could not take the league’s bottom side for granted and on the quarter hour won a line-out five metres out and drove for the line. Alton held the forwards drive but were overwhelmed when the visitors’ backs joined the maul to produce the game’s first try.

Alton again set up good possession with Luke Parratt hooking against the head but a good move fizzled out with another forward pass, this time into touch.

An individual thirty metre break by Fareham’s flanker took the score to 0-14 on the half hour. Heathen’s then had a ten minute “purple patch” running in two further tries. Although the half ended with Alton’s scrum encamped on the opposition goal line, the scores didn’t come and half-time whistle was blown, with the score being 0-26.

Ten minutes into the second period Alton’s hooker, Parratt, threw a short ball to the front of a line out on the right hand side in Alton’s own half; prop Olly Whitehead scampered away with his fellow forwards in full support. The ball was eventually released to the backs who engineered an excellent try, far out on the left with Will Hamer touching down.

Ten minutes later, Alton were penalised under their own posts and were too slow to react, allowing Heathen’s to score their fifth try. This set up their second “purple patch” resulting in two more scores. The visitors could have scored again at the death when a player broke away dribbling the ball. However, all went wrong when firstly a pursuing Alton player tripped and pirouetted distracting the attacker, who himself slipped, overran the ball, went back for it, reached the line, bent to pick it up to score and knocked it on!

Referee - Peter Woodward (HRURS)

There are no Snows Hampshire One games this coming weekend with Alton’s next fixture being away to Isle of Wight on Saturday 21st March, kick-off 3:00 p.m.