On the coldest day of November with a strong northerly wind producing what felt like sub-zero temperatures, Alton had to wait for the arrival of Ventnor.

Unfortunately, the Isle of Wight club had been caught in the traffic tailback following a serious accident on the M3 at Winchester which meant the kick-off was delayed by forty minutes. Within two minutes of kick-off Alton had a penalty awarded but the lack of a kicking tee and the wind affected the kick's accuracy. Alton stayed in the opposition's 22 metre area and following a lineout the forwards drove to the try line for prop James Rowe to emerge from the pile of humanity clutching the ball. Kyle Bale, this time with the tee, converted giving Alton a lead of 7-0.

Ventnor responded well and following a penalty, encamped on Alton's line. Eventually Alton was able to steal the ball and clear their lines. Thirteen minutes later, good pressure from the visitors, produced an unconverted try for Ventnor close to their left-hand touchline, 7-5. Alton were penalised, giving Ventnor the opportunity to take the lead, but the attempted kick was missed. The game was rather scrappy for the remainder of this half but Alton did manage to survive without conceding any points during the sin-binning of Chris Gregory for lying on the ball. Just on half-time, Tom Smethurst made a classic No 8 break from the back of the scrum to score. Unfortunately, the strong wind prevented a successful conversion but at half-time Alton did lead 12 - 5.

Following a very short break of three minutes the game restarted in the fast gathering gloom. Within minutes of the restart Ventnor tied the score when some good backs' work enabled their centre to burst through on an excellent line, to score near the posts which made the conversion relatively easy. The game, although fiercely competitive, again became scrappy and although a Ventnor player was penalised for a high tackle they managed to hold out.  When the referee, Andy Beevers suffered an attack of cramp, probably due to the intense cold, he and the two captains decided that as the game had gone beyond sixty minutes and visibility was very poor, the score would stand as the final result of 12 -12.

Referee - Andy Beevers (HRURS)

On the neighbouring pitch Alton's Super 2s lost narrowly to Petersfield's third team.

Alton's next league game is in two weeks, when they visit league leaders Romsey on Saturday, 5^th December.  Both teams were relegated from Snows Hampshire 1 last season and it promises to be a closely competitive match.