Alton are off the bottom of London 3 after coming from behind to beat Old Freemen's.

Alton overturned a 15-8 half-time deficit to notch only their second league win of the season and keep their faint London 3 survival hopes alive.

While victory lifts them off the bottom of the table, Alton are realistically still some four wins from safety and relegation is still a probability. The fat lady may be warming up in her dressing-room but, make no bones about it, this was a hugely relieving win for Anstey Park loyalists.

The contest was no classic, by any means. It was messy and strewn with stoppages but thoroughly absorbing and gut-wrenchingly tense.

There was much relief too that Alton had finally managed to field a front row and actually play a league game but to win the thing as well was an added bonus.

By default Alton's man of the match was emergency prop Mark Greenhalgh simply because without him there would have been no game. Greenhalgh was the cornerstone of a pack that played with hunger and not a little menace - and the scrummage was immense.

But it was the trio of teenagers who warmed Alton hearts the most. Eighteen-year-old Bren Sumner made a supremely accomplished debut at centre while scrum-half Tom Willis wasn't half bad either, helping himself to ten of Alton's points.

Both ran in tries and while 17-year-old flanker Matt Allum didn't trouble the scorers, he was mightily effective and a real physical presence in the dark recesses of the breakdowns.

Alton's second-half display was proof, if it were needed, that a mastery of basic skills and defensive organisation will win rugby matches. Yes, they blew a few chances but crucially they stuck to their task and showed a belief that has been lacking too often this season.  

In the final analysis, however, Old Freemen's should be kicking themselves because they had enough chances to build a match-winning lead in the opening period.

The visitors had oodles of wit and pace in the back-line but most of their punch came from the pounding runs of number eight Simon Daniels and the in-your-face directness of inside-centre Jon Wilson, who repeatedly pierced an uncertain and shaky Alton rearguard in the opening half-hour. But the finishing did not match the build-up and Freemen's spurned a couple of gilt-edged opportunities inside the first quarter-hour.

Eventually it was Daniels who opened the scoring, forcing himself over from close range after Wilson's angled run had set up an attacking ruck under Alton's posts. John Ormrad converted and Freemen's should have extended their advantage when Ormrod's lovely arcing break set up a great attacking position on the left fbut a regulation overlap was butchered and the chance was gone.

Costly. Alton hit back when Willis took a cheeky tap and darted over from five metres and the scrum-half later banged over a 25-metre penalty for a slender 8-7 lead.

True to form Alton ceded their advantage almost immediately, Rob Good's attempted off-load going loose and Freemen's centre Joe Hutter gathering and scuttling over unopposed from 40 metres.

Good's error, readily acknowledged by the number eight, was a rare blip in a fine display: he was always combative at the breakdowns and his athleticism lent Alton a sense of urgency in their attacking play.  

Ormrod slotted a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time to extend Freemen's lead but his departure and the concussion-enforced retirement of the excellent Daniels early in the second half blunted Freemen's as an attacking force and gave Alton the upper hand.

And Alton duly took advantage when stand-off Sam Rees's weaving break and off-load teed up Sumner for his debut try, Willis squaring the game with the conversion.  The decisive score came 13 minutes from the send when Alton broke from the back of a ruck and Rees's long, raking pass was juggled and eventually held by wing Adam Gill, who slithered over in the corner.

Alton: Forsyth; Williams, Pratt, Sumner, Gill; Rees, Willis; Greenhalgh, Parratt, Gay (capt.); Ford, Happel; Allum, Gerlach, Good. Reps.: Crowther, Law, Platneur.

Tries: Willis (20'), Sumner (54'), Gill (67');
Con: Willis;
Penalty: Willis (29').


Old Freemen's: Gotto; Rowan, Hutter, Wilson, Wilkinson; Ormrod, Owens; Charalambous, Webb, A Moodie (capt.); Broome, Gummer; Bird, Hatcher; Daniels.
Reps.: I Moodie, Beech, Keen.

Tries: Daniels (10'), Hutter (32');
Conversion: Ormord;
Penalty: Ormord (40'+7').

Yellow card: Bird (38').

H-T: 8-15.

Referee: Jeff Highcock (Hampshire Society).