The Celts progress to the Hampshire Cup Semi Final

What was forecasted to be a very wet and windy morning turned out beautifully. The sun was out and the wind was gusty and unpredictable at worse. The Celts returned to Penns Park for the third time in three seasons looking to make it a hattrick of away victories against a big, strong side.

The game did not start as hoped as the kick off was picked up in the wind and taken dead. An early scrum for the Celts to assert themselves? The Celts dominance at the scrum was greater than at the previous match and Petersfield found them selves being shoved back in the mud. More control this time meant the scrum was not pushed too far and they were not penalised.

However, the ‘field players found some yards out wide and pushed up the pitch into the wind. Their possession was rewarded with a penalty which was expertly dispatched into the gusty wind. 3-0, “First Blood to Petersfield!” was the cry from the crowd.

The restart was better and found space which put the field 9 under pressure. The Celts had a new fullback in place and with only a couple of hours notice to prepare, Charlie Fisher found himself collecting the ball in his own 22 with a broken field in front of him. He found support and the Celts retained possession ultimately gaining a penalty kick of their own. Into the corner it went where the first lineout was taken. The decision to go to the front was made before the kick off due to the windy conditions. Michael Cromie threw in well and the maul was set. The slippery ground made it hard work and it collapsed and Petersfield cleared. From the next lineout and resulting breakdown, the ball finally went wide for the Celts and Elliott Giles drew the defender and passed to Peter Headley. A double handoff and speed down the line saw Peter go over for the first try of the game. Great play! The conversion was completed with the assisting wind by Thomas Hutchinson. 3-7

The front rows of Jack Harrison, Brieuc Soulayrac, Michael Cromie, William Parker and Alexander Horsley-Menendez (Cup debut) gave the Celts a solid scrum drive almost every time. Oliver Smith (c) and Niall Moss (Cup debut) were excellent on the flanks, limiting the Petersfield 8, 9 and 10 to a few scraps of inventive attack.

The Celts had found their mojo and were soon back in possession and on his first start at centre, Jake Hoare was terrorising the Petersfield defensive line, running at pace and using his strength to fend off at will. Valuable metres made and back into the opposition 22. The rucks were still tightly contested with more than enough turnovers from each side. The switch from defence to attack was too frequent but it meant there were gaps appearing. Harry Cromie rifled a long pass out wide to Michail Nastoulis who used his pace and guile to beat four defenders and fly under the posts sending the crown into emotional applause. Well done Michail, we always knew you could do it! The conversion came back off the post. 3-12

Elliot Giles and Oliver Smith were terrific at the ruck and really started to turn the screw. When they were not there, Kai Williams, Sam Starr (Cup debut) and Will May were there to counter ruck. One infringement allowed another Petersfield penalty. 6-12
After some patient play on 24’ the ball was moved from side to side with Will May eventually making a strong charge for the line only to be taken down by 3 defenders, just short. The ball was calmly recycled and a short pick and dive by Elliot gave the Celts the next score. Another conversion meant the first half ended 6-19.

The half time team talk was to build on what had been done in the first half; to use our strengths, play for territory and stand up to the inevitable pressure that was about to come. That pressure culminated in a string of conceded penalties and then a successful Petersfield penalty kick and try (no conversion) before some stern words were said behind the posts. 14-19

The Celts cleared their heads and found their way back into the game by finding some metres out wide again, but the forwards sensed a tired defence and got in on the scoreboard action themselves. A couple of pick and drives off the back of the ruck by Jack Harrison and Harry Cromie in the corner presented Kai Williams with an opportunity to drive over from 4m. An excellent conversion from out wide by Thomas Hutchinson completed the scoring 14-26.

There was more Petersfield attack to come but the Celts defence was resolute, forcing the errors in the Petersfield attack and closing the game out properly.

Thanks must go to our club sponsors Deep Blue Financial and Si-Digital for their support. The parents and spectators were once again magnificent – thank you so much!

Onto the Semi Final we go, to play Trojans, away from home next month. We have a couple of friendly matches in the meantime which provide us an opportunity to improve our game further. All in all, today was a great spectacle of physical rugby played between two very good sides and in the correct spirit of the game. Well done to all players, especially The Celts!