Reports

09/09/07 Havant v Romsey. 37 - 5
A small squad of 12 Romsey u17s players travelled to Havant to take on the might of their colts team. Havant were gracious enough to supply players to make up Romsey's shortfall. Although Havant always had a measure of control in this match, Romsey put up a sprirted fight in both defence and attack. We wont mention the Havant tries, but when the Romsey fowards spent several minutes camped on the Havant try line, Gus Layton managed a spectacular 6 inch dive to ground the ball for the Romsey score in the corner. Despite the depleted team, Romsey never lost heart and could have scored on other occasions had the support play been up to scratch, but nevertheless did well to restrict the strong Havant side to the small handful of tries they collected.

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Josh Austin, Niall Kincaid, Gus Layton, Ben Lowell, Jim Stent, Liam Sharpe, Rhys Zownir, Callum Campbell, Ben Taylor, Ollie Sturgess


30/09/07 Romsey v Wimborne. 12 - 17
Last years fixture against Wimborne was played on a lake covering up a mudbath, so it was with some relief to find that wellies werent needed this year. The Romsey side were victorious on that occasion but conceded an early 5 pointer in this encounter. Although most of the action took place in the Romsey 22, Wimborne were uable to turn this territory into points. On one of the rare forays into the Wimborne half, nice passing and Gus Layton's mazy run led to a score under the posts, which was fortunate, as he took the conversion. The halftime score of 7-5 probably flattered Romsey slightly but Wimborne only had themselves to blame for ill discipline and finding themselves continually listening to the referees whistle. Unfortunately Romsey offered little attacking prowess in the second half and were turned over far too often to offer serious resistence to Wimborne's forward supremecy and slick handling in the back division. However, having conceded two nice tries, Romsey tried hard to haul themselves back into the contest and after a ruck near Wimborne line, Ben Lowell picked up and dived over near the corner to leave the scoreline more respectable than the overall performance.

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Josh Holmes, Josh Austin, Sean Baker, Adam Aitken-Smith, Ben Lowell, Niall Kincaid, Johnny, Jim Stent, Gus Layton, Alex MacIndoe, Callum Campbell, Ben Taylor, George Allen, Tom


07/10/07 Petersfield v Romsey. 48 - 0
An injury depleted Romsey u17s squad travelled to Petersfield to take on another u17s team which turned out to include a number of u18s and u19s. To their credit, the Romsey team held the score to 0-0 for the first opening 20 minutes and indeed enjoyed at least their fair share of territory and possession and the Peterfield coaches were looking worried until the first of three first half tries was scored. In the second half the advantage of having a large squad really showed with Romsey not having sufficient numbers to make any substitutions whilst Petersfield made a number. A tiring Romsey side shipped a further five tries, mostly towards the end of the second half, but could leave the pitch with their heads held high to watch the end of the quarter final between Fiji and South Africa in the clubhouse. The highlight of the day for one member of the squad anyway!

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Josh Austin, Sean Baker, Adam Aitken-Smith, Ben Lowell, Niall Kincaid, Jim Stent, Liam Sharpe, Callum Campbell, Ryan MacPhail, Gus Layton


21/10/07 Romsey v Andover. 12 - 10
Unusually the Romsey u17s squad found themselves (almost!) free of injury for the fixture against Andover, but lost three players to the half term holidays. The 15 available players stamped their intent on the match from the whistle with a ferocious display of tackling which seemed to catch Andover by surprise. The missed tackle count weighed heavily in Romsey's favour, and together with the superior scrum, the pressure was bound to tell. A penalty ten metres out was tapped quickly by Gus Layton who threw a dummy to leave the wing stranded and dotted down near the corner. Charlie Evans made the difficult conversion look easy. The second half was a tense affair and appeared to be settled as the Andover scrumhalf was scragged 15 metres out by his opposite number behind the scrum who turned the ball over and popped the ball for Sean Baker to take the ball at pace and score. Two tries in the last quarter, thankfully unconverted, as Romsey relaxed slightly seemed to remind them of the need to commit to defence, and a penalty shot which turned out to be 15m too far should be a reminder to the squad that the match isnt won until the final whistle. Overall, it was a much improved performance, as each match has been so far this season, and most importantly, a win!

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Sean Baker, Ben Lowell, Adam Aitken-Smith, Ben Manser, Charlie Evans, Niall Kincaid, Gus Layton, Jim Stent, Alex McIndoe, Ryan MacPhail, Callum Campbell, Ben Taylor, Ollie Sturgess.


04/11/07 Romsey v Basingstoke. 8 - 12
Romsey u17's visitors this week were a Basingstoke development side. Over the years fixtures at this age group have always been played in good spirit and this was no exception despite the closeness of not just the final score, but the two teams.A thoroughly enjoyable game to watch started with Romsey spending the first 10 minutes inside the 'Stoke 22 but unable to turn territory and possession into points.From this point on, both teams had chances as the game swung from one end to the other but excellent defences held sway until on the half hour mark a counter attacking 30m run on the Stoke right wing resulted in the first score for the visitors. For a few minutes it looked as though the Stoke players may get a grip on the match, but excellent cleaning out left Ben Taylor with his own counter attacking opportunity which he took with aplomb by chipping over the defence and outsprinting them to the try line to score just before halftime. In the second half, Romsey sorted the scrum out much better and their clear superiority in the lineout gave them plenty of possession and probably more scoring opportunities than the opposition and Charlie Evan's penalty kick after offside at the ruck on the 15 minute mark put the home side 8-7 in the lead. The second half carried on in the same vein with both teams creating but not finishing any chances until after 25 minutes Stoke created an overlap on the right wing who stepped inside the two Romsey defenders racing across to try and cover to score an unconverted try. Even in the last 10 minutes Romsey had scrums on Stoke's 5m line but were unable to take advantage of these positions to leave Stoke winners 12-8 at the final whistle. A great performance from both teams which left all spectators and coaches pleased with what they had seen.

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Ben Lowell, Josh Austin, Adam Aitken-Smith, Josh Holmes, Charlie Evans, Niall Kincaid, Jim Stent, Liam Sharpe, Alex McIndoe, Ryan MacPhail, Callum Campbell, Ben Taylor, Ollie Sturgess.


25/11/07 Fawley v Romsey. 7 - 69
Romsey welcomed four new players into the squad this week all of whom played a part in what proved to be a comfortable victory. After 3 minutes the tone was set when a quick tapped penalty led to the spreading of the ball to Ben Lowell who told me to write that he side stepped 14 defenders in his 10m dash to cross the line. The direction of traffic and general tone of play was set by this early score with Fawley, a very physical side, conceding a string of penalties for high tackles and general indiscipline. The second try was also a quick tapped penalty which was spread along the line for Trevor to score in the corner, and it was a repeat performance for the third. A fourth try was added before halftime by Alex Hill popping up near the left wing after some slick three quarter handling, leaving the halftime score 22-0. The second half started with a great solo break by Trevor leaving the Fawley defenders in his wake, the score converted by Gus Layton. One too many high tackles saw Fawley's first of two yellow cards in the second half, and although Romsey were completely in control of all facets of play against 15, they filled their boots against 14. Tom Windibank hacked through in the centre, picked up skillfully and laid the ball off for Trevor to score unopposed, converted by Gus. Another try quickly followed by Josh Austin (I missed it!) converted again by Gus. A quick throw provided the next try by Tom who sidestepped through the defence for a classy score in the corner converted by Gus. A quick free kick led to another Romsey try, this time by Liam Sharpe who had tackled all day and deserved the score skipping through the Fawley defence, again converted by Gus. At last Fawley got the try they probably deserved as despite the scoreline they never gave up and for a change the Romsey forwards were outnumbered at a breakdown leading to a simple score and conversion. Romsey however were determined to have the last say and another excellent tackle by Liam led to a spilled ball which Tom collected to score in the left hand corner. Not to be outdone Trevor scored the last of his 4 tries at the death which was converted by Gus to leave the final score 7-69 to Romsey. Although a comfortable win, Romsey dealt very well with the physicality of a bruising encounter and some of the handling was the best seen so far this season and despite some very good individual performances, it was an overall excellent team display.

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Ben Lowell, Josh Austin, Adam Aitken-Smith, Josh Holmes, Ollie Sturgess, Niall Kincaid, Gus Layton, Jim Stent, Liam Sharpe, Alex McIndoe, Aiden, Alex Paddington, Trevor Tanifum, Tom Windibank .


20/01/08 Basingstoke v Romsey. 12 - 26
Basingstoke played hosts to Romsey u17s on a blustery day which promised to make both kicking and passing difficult, a promise that was never kept. Although the first 10 minutes were spent largely in the Romsey half, the defence was sound and 'Stoke didn't carve out any clear cut opportunuties. After this early spell, Romsey turned the tables and spent the next 5 minutes camped in the Basingstoke 22. A ruck set up 10 metres out was illegally handled to the rear of the 'Stoke side, but the pass back for the attempted clearing kick was pressured by Gus causing a fumble by the fullback and the Romsey scrumhalf managed to flyhack the ball over the line and win the race to touch down next to the posts, a score he then converted. Romsey continued to apply concerted pressure forcing a number of errors against a surprised 'Stoke side whose scrum found themselves sliding backwards on occasions and whose backline were given no room to get going. Eventually the position and possession advantage told and Liam at flyhalf sold the dummy pass and cut through the gap to score under the posts, converted by Gus to leave the halftime score 12-0 to the visitors. With the wind behind them Stoke started the second half rather better, using their bigger forwards to run at the Romsey defence and batter their way closer to the Romsey line and after the last in a series of rucks, they set up a maul which was driven over the line, the resulting try quickly converted. This was not a turning point however, and Romsey's dogged defence and exciting running in attack led to a certain amount of ill discipline amongst the frustrated Stoke side. From an unpromising position on the Stoke 10 metre line, Ollie at centre stepped three would be tacklers to sprint and score between the posts, converted by the excellent counter attacking fullback Trevor. Although Romsey were too frequently turned over at rucks, their ability to steal surprising ball from mauls was exemplified by Alexi who set up an excellent passing move through the hands of the backs from one side of the pitch to the other at pace, with perfectly timed passing for Tom to beat his opposite number on the wing and score near the corner. With only a few minutes to go, 'Stoke added respectability to the score when their number 8 found himself on the wing and the three Romsey defenders all failed to stop him scoring in the corner to leave the full time score 12 - 26 to Romsey.

Squad: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Josh Holmes, Ben Lowell, Sean Baker, Josh Austin, Adam Aitken-Smith, Niall Kincaid, Gus Layton, Liam Sharpe, Ollie Sturgess, Callum Campbell, Alex McIndoe, Jim Stent, Tom Windibank, Trevor Tanifum.


02/03/08 Romsey v Pulborough. 20 - 10
Romsey, representing Hampshire, started this London and SE regional quarterfinal of the National u17s Shield match with pedal to the metal and set a new standard in their early forward domination, commanding the ruck ball and using pick and drive to great effect. With the majority of position and possession, it still took 15 minutes before the stubborn Pulborough defence was broken by a try from a quick tap and go penalty 5 metres out by the Romsey scrum half who cut through the alert defenders on the line. The conversion was just missed by the same player. Romsey continued to dominate and earned a penalty after 25 minutes converted by the scrum half. It was not all forward dominance however, the halfbacks and 3/4s made repeated breaks to set up attacking positions, one such ending in a scrum on the 5m line, a perfect position for a quick strike for the Romsey scrum half to scamper through for a try he converted. If Romsey thought a halftime score of 15-0 was sufficient, the second half was a quite a different affair, despite Romsey's excellent scrummaging, Pulborough's very good tactical kicking and continued breaks around the fringes and through the three quarters, as well as too many infringements at breakdowns, Romsey found themselves pinned down in their own half for large periods of the time. Pressure inevitably leads to errors and two unconverted tries saw Romsey's lead cut to 5 points with twenty minutes to go and under the cosh, but through spirited defence and a redoubled effort in the forwards, Romsey managed to spend much more time in the opposition's half and were rewarded with an unconverted try by Sean Baker, driven on by his back row for the deciding score. Great resolve, great teamwork and some splendid individual performances earned Romsey a deserved place in the semifinals.

Tries: Gus Layton (2) Sean Baker (1) Conversions: Gus Layton (1/3) Penalties: Gus Layton (1/2)

Squad list: 1)Alex Hill 2) Alexi Jordan, 3)Sean Baker 4) Craig Sinclair 5)Charlie Evans 6)Josh Austin (c) 7) Adam Aitken-Smith 8) Ben Manser 9) Gus Layton 10) Liam Sharpe 11) Tom Windibank 12) Ollie Sturgess 13) Alex McIndoe 14) Bobby Huruna 15) Jim Stent 16) Niall Kincaid 17) Josh Holmes 18) Cameron Pell 19) Callum Campbell 20) Anthony Baldwin 21) Gareth Bedowes

02/03/08 Romsey v Folkestone. 13 - 16
Romsey played hosts to Folkestone representing Kent in the regional semi-finals of the RFU National Shield at Stanbridge Earls school who kindly stepped into the breach to provide a pitch when the club pitches were deemed unfit at the last minute following saturday nights awful weather. Still sticky underfoot, and a strong wind howling across the pitch meant this was not a day for pretty rugby but one for commitment and hard work. The Romsey pack set the tone from the kick off gaining a penalty from the first ruck for a handling offence, converted from some distance by the scrum half Gus Layton. Another tone was also set for the match as Folkestone gained a penalty for a similar offence just 3 minutes later and levelled the score. Although surprisingly losing out in too many lineouts, and just being shaded in the scrum, the Romsey forwards totally dominated all facets of loose play, using the pick and drive to great effect and mauling with great power and control. A collapsed maul travelling at a rate of knots on the Folkestone 22 led to another penalty converted by the scrumhalf who made a nonsense of the tricky wind. More forward pressure led to the opportunity for a scrumhalf break, stopped about 10 metres out, but great following up by the forwards allowed quick recycling and a drive over the line by hooker Alexi Jordan, a score converted by the scrumhalf.
A mere 3 minutes later, Romsey were strangely adjudged offside in midfield to concede a penalty to reduce the visitors defecit, and only a few minutes later a lost lineout on their own 22 resulted in a good break by the Folkstone centre opening up the defence for the only time in the match, making a pass for the opposite wing to run in and round under the posts for an easy conversion leaving the half time scores an unlikely looking 13 apiece.
The second half was naturally tense but despite contolled and concerted forward pressure inside the oppositions 22, crossing the line twice, Romsey were unable to ground the ball to the referee's satisfaction, largely, it must be said, to the credit of Folkestone's determined defence. Folkestone tried and tried to use the threequarter line to attack from deep, but Liam Sharpe (tackling a no 10 about twice his weight) Ollie Sturgess, and Alex McIndoe cut them down in midfield before anything got going. The second half remained scoreless despite Romsey having a disproportionate amount of possession and position with Folkestone largely reduced to defensive kicks to get into the Romsey half. Each kicker had one penalty chance from a long way out, but neither was close and the match appeared to be heading for a disappointing draw.
However, right at the death and deep into injury time Romsey conceded a penalty near their own 22 (which had become rare territory for them) for a ruck infringement and was duly converted for a Folkestone win. There is no man of the match award, but if there had been, Sean Baker would have certainly been in the reckoning and typified what was a terrific and very unlucky Romsey performance.
Despite the loss, all Romsey players deserve credit both in this match and in this campaign doing Hampshire proud in their ability, competitiveness, commitment and the sporting way in which they have played the game.

Tries: Alexi Jordan (1) Conversions: Gus Layton (1/1) Penalties: Gus Layton (2/3)

Squad list: 1)Alex Hill 2) Alexi Jordan, 3)Sean Baker 4) Craig Sinclair 5)Charlie Evans 6 )Josh Austin (c) 7) Ben Manser 8) Niall Kincaid 9) Gus Layton 10) Liam Sharpe 11) Tom Windibank 12) Ollie Sturgess 13) Alex McIndoe 14) Jim Stent 15) Trevor Tanifum 16) Callum Campbell 17) Adam Aitken-Smith 18) Ben Lowell 19) Matt

30/03/08 Andover v Romsey. 31 - 7
Romsey u17s started this game severely under strength due to injuries and varying school holidays which left a starting 15 of 14 for their match against Andover. A borrowed player levelled up the numbers but two minutes into the match Romsey suffered yet another injury in the shape of Ben Lowell. Another borrowed player and a reshuffle allowed the game to continue and despite the setback Romsey spent most of the first 15 minutes in the opposition 22. Although Romsey continued to scrum well, they were easily out-mauled by an organised opposition and against the run of play and the first time in the Romsey 22, an advancing maul following a lineout set up a scrum-half break to score in the corner. Play continued to revolve around the Andover 22 after the restart and eventually after the ball was held up after a break by the scrum-half Jim Stent, a 5m scrum was awarded from which the ball was quickly fed left to the dynamic centre Ollie Sturgess who no-one fancies tackling and broke through the defence to score a try which he also converted to take the lead. The rest of the first half was an unremarkable affair and what chances there were fell to Romsey who were playing by far the more attractive rugby, in particular in the halfbacks and three quarters. In the second half something strange happened to the Romsey scrum which suddenly found a reverse gear that had been missing for most of the season. Lineouts were also disappointing against not special opposition leaving a meagre supply of ball supplied from rucks where Alex Hill and Sean Baker excelled both in turning over ball and providing quick ball going forward. It was unsurprising that a lost lineout 15m out led to a flyhalf break for an easy converted try for the home side to regain the lead. Unfortunately the ugly side of the game showed its rare face at this age group and standard of rugby and Romsey's winger come emergency fullback for the day Tom Windibank, had to retire after an unforgiveable piece of foul play. Unfortunately this left Romsey a little despondant, outnumbered, not to mention defenceless at the back and they shipped another three tries all of which could be atrributed to a lack of fullback. A disappointing end to what had promised to be a close, well contested match. However, it is important to concentrate on the positives, on a heavy pitch it was a pleasure to see the backs in full flow so often, fantastic defence by the whole line from 9-15 and creative distribution from 9 and 10, Jim Stent and Liam Sharpe. Particular plaudits should go to Ollie for an all round excellent performance as crash ball centre and Jim for great defence and distribution from the back of a largely retreating scrum.

Tries: Ollie Sturgess (1) Conversions: Ollie Sturgess (1/1)
Squad list: Alex Hill, Alexi Jordan, Sean Baker, Ben Lowell, Josh Holmes, Adam Aitkin-Smith, Josh Austin, Jim Stent, Liam Sharpe, Ollie Sturgess, Alex McIndoe, Callum Campbell, Matt De Douto, Tom Windibank