Alton were unable to maintain their recent record of good results when they travelled to their furthest away fixture of the season at Ventnor.

Ventnor, who kicked off this game as league leaders, had players who were bigger, fitter and much more experienced than an Alton side bolstered by the inclusion of a number of Colts. However, the visitors gave an excellent account of themselves with the opening half hour being very competitive. Alex Hayward made a couple of strong runs and Adam Hoxey bravely saved a try by falling on a ball at a home player's feet. Eventually Alton were penalised for offside, having broken up an attack and Ventnor took a hard earned lead of three points. Late in the half Ventnor were awarded a scrum and their number 8 scored a try that was converted. The Ventnor backs then ran the ball wide scoring an unconverted try, taking the half-time score to 15 - 0.

The very strong breeze which had been blowing into Altonian faces during the first half shifted during the break and blew across the pitch with the change of direction introducing two very heavy hail showers during the following quarter. However the awful weather seemed to inspire Alton's tenacity and restricted Ventnor to just ten further points during the second half. The highlight of the half for Alton was a dazzling forty metre run by Alton centre, David Shepherd.  In scoring their fourth try, Ventnor guaranteed their promotion to Hampshire 1 next season, while Alton are assured of at least sixth place in the league table.

Referee - John Holden (HRURS)

Alton do not have a league fixture this coming Saturday but do face a rather formidable test on 19^th March when they welcome Romsey RFC to Anstey Park, kick-off 3 p.m. Romsey are unbeaten with fifteen out of fifteen games won and should return to the top of the table following their rescheduled game against Nomads this Saturday.