A good performance in our second league match of the season saw a full strength side win a close fought contest at Fareham.

Alton dominated the opening exchanges, winning scrummage against the head and showing good interplay between backs and forwards, but had little to show for this advantage until Ben Gillan made a break and outran covering defence to score.

Fareham responded with a score, before Josh van Hagen reinforced our advantage by going over to score just before half time.

In the second half we allowed Fareham to come back into the game and spent 15 minutes on our own line before finally conceding a score which gave the lead away. During this period, we conceded territory and possession and allowed Fareham to think that they might be able to win.

In the fourth quarter, we worked our way back into position and Chris Martin scored an excellent try, slicing open the Fareham defence from 2nd phase ball. Tom Willis was unlucky not to score an opportunist try, which would have sealed the victory, and we showed some good spirit to hold out against a concerted effort by the home team.

Learning points from this week:

1. Play the game in the right part of the pitch – the opposition half. Think about how we get there.
2. Tackling. We allowed 2 props to carry the ball for 60 meters. If we tackle like we tackled on and behind our line, we would be unbeatable.

Tries: Ben Gillan, Josh van Hagen, Chris Martin. Conversion: Adam Gallagher.

Man of the match: Josh van Hagen

Special Mention: Super-sub Jack Groves and his aerial display in the line out.