A cold away day to New Milton for the Celts

On a bright, clear, late November day Gosport & Fareham Celts travelled to New Milton RFC for their latest league match. There was a degree of trepidation and excitement after two hard fought victories at home in Gosport Park against Trojans and Winchester how would the squad perform on the road? There was a quiet determination from the squad to pull everything together and give the opposition a taste of the running expansive rugby we can play. The pitch looked perfect for running rugby but with a stiff icy breeze and low winter sun, high balls could be tricky. Captain Ollie Smith won the toss and chose to play with the wind behind our backs albeit with the low winter sun in our faces, the decision paid off with a series of rampaging runs by the forwards which saw Henry Shaw crash over for the opening try with not even five minutes on the clock. A somewhat shell shocked New Milton got no respite as the Celts scrum was firmly on top. The Celts’ eight were too powerful for a good New Milton scrum. Once the scrum completed, the forwards hammered away at the New Milton defence with a series of punishing runs. This sapped New Milton’s strength and stressed their defensive cover. A flowing Gosport move with tight interplay ended with Jack Harrison powering over the line.
Not to be outdone the backs stamped their authority with some quick ball and hard running lines from centre Elliot Giles.
The ability to spin the ball, together with crisp handling and close interplay allowed Thomas Hutchinson to finish the move he had started by going over in the corner. It should be said at this stage despite the tricky wind conditions that Thomas Hutchinson had an imperious day from the kicking tee converting all but one conversion despite the angles and the wind. Again the Celts forwards enforced their dominance hitting ruck after ruck before Jake Hoare crossed the line for the first of his two tries.
Half time brought some respite for the opposition and a chance for the Celts parents to warm up slightly after a scintillating first half of physical dominance from the Celts pack and sharp attacking rugby for the backs.
New Milton struck back immediately in the second half with a try, but this only served to focus the determination from the Celts to play the free flowing attacking rugby they can. A sharply taken tap penalty saw the ball fly through the hands along the line setting Peter Headley up for his first of the day despite the best efforts of the New Milton defenders.
This emboldened the Celts further leading to some glorious interplay of backs and forwards with hard running angles, brutal rucking and sharp hands. Another flowing move initiated from the scrum saw the ball go wide with Jake Hoare thundering over out wide for his second of the day. A great match was finished off by another flowing move with judicious offloading and crisp handling saw Peter Headley power over in the corner.
In sum, a great day for the Celts, the squad showed their ability to do the basics well. The scrum was utterly dominant with a revolving front row of Will Parker, Michael Cromie, Max Court and Jack Harrison, a powerhouse second row partnering of Kai Williams and Jake Hoare as well as locking the scrum hit ruck after ruck ensuring we kept possession. The back row of Tom Warwick, Ollie Smith and Henry Shaw tackled everything that moved and their collective jackaling won back the scant ball New Milton managed to obtain. The scrum halves rotated with Harry Cromie and Aidan Bones (Aidan making a welcome return from injury). Both their service was crisp and clean from the base of the scrum and tackling as ferocious as ever. Thomas Hutchinson orchestrated the back line superbly from fly half ensuring the ball went through the hands quickly, thus continuously stretching the New Milton RFC defence. Elliot Giles and Charlie Fisher in the centres balanced their hard direct running with sharp distribution. The back three of Michail Nastoulis, Josh Fernandes and Peter Headley were rock solid under the high ball in defence and quickly turned defence into attack. Their sheer pace and physicality was too much for New Milton.
Clinical, expansive, free flowing rugby which was a joy to watch.

Mark Headley.