A Well Earned Draw at HMS Temeraire

The overnight drizzle had succeeded in warding off the frost that had been forecast and, for many of the boys, this was their first outing onto the artificial pitch at HMS Temeraire.

Maybe it was the wind whipping in from the Solent. Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the slightly early start time. Whatever the reason, the first half was dogged with wayward passes and handling errors. That's not to say that there wasn't some excellent rugby being played but, every time we found ourselves close to the US Portsmouth line Gosport and Fareham ended up losing the ball. US Portsmouth broke the deadlock, scoring their first try just before half time.

The second half got off to a brilliant start. A lovely little kick and chase and some fantastic counter rucking won the ball back which Richard touched down for Gosport and Fareham's first try.

The celebrations were short lived though. Less than 2 minutes later US Portsmouth won a penalty 5m out and took the ball over for their second.

The rest of the match was hard fought. The boys had warmed up, passes were going to hand, good tackles were being made and the rucking and counter rucking was some of the best I've seen all season. Probably one of the highlights was the maul in which Gosport and Fareham showed their power and drove the ball half the length of the pitch before winning a penalty.

But time was running out. Gosport and Fareham won a penalty mid field and kicked to touch about 5m from the US Portsmouth line...this was going to be the last play of the match. The free pass went out to Harry who immediately slipped it on to Harvey who received the ball at full pace, sidestepped his defender and went over leveling the game as the final whistle sounded.

A message from Shane:
Nice even game today, with both sides having the fair share of the ball. Some good forward play that we need to continue and improve on.

Two great team tries with a couple of personal performances worth a mention. Alex and Alex showed great determination in the breakdown to drive Gosport forward. Dylan was always in the mix causing havoc everywhere he went and Richard's try saving tackles were also pleasing to the eye.

This was a good platform for our cup game next week. Let's have more of the same against Heathens on Sunday.