Romsey U-14s showing fine form at the end of the season

🏉🏉🏉🏉A great 37-7 win today for the U14s vs Fareham Heathens. Romsey came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders and scored first with Henry M going over the line. Joseph N followed with a brace soon after, one being a lovely quick tap penalty on the 22 catching the defence unaware. They carried on the second half with tries from Joe C, Alex S, James M and Fin W. 3 very proud coaches and onto Ellingham & Ringwood next week.🏉🏉🏉🏉

Penultimate match of the season ends in defeat

Romsey travelled to highflying Fareham knowing that they were in for a tough test against a side in second place in the league. The first 10 minutes were fairly even with Fareham threatening once or twice but wasting an overlap by opting to kick. The home side then gave away the first of many penalties just within kicking range but with the strong wind blowing Jim Lamont was unable to convert. Soon afterwards Fareham offended again and this time Lamont made no mistake giving Romsey a three point lead.

Romsey had been tackling ferociously but suddenly a couple of missed tackles let Fareham in for a school behind the posts which was duly converted giving the home side a 7 : 3 lead. Undaunted Romsey came back strongly and after a great run down the wing by Ollie Soundy, taken on by a couple of other players, Romsey almost reached the line but unfortunately knocked on just short of the line.
To add insult to injury a wild pass by Romsey allowed Fareham to intercept and although initially thwarted, they soon crossed for a second try which was also converted, extending their lead to 14 : 3. The visitors hit back immediately and from a line out on the Fareham 5 metre line a superb catch and ferocious drive saw hooker Ben Hoad bundled over for Romsey’ first try which went unconverted leaving the score at 14 : 8.

The second half started with Fareham having the benefit of the strong wind and Romsey supporters feared the worst. However Romsey surprised everyone by taking the game to Fareham, retaining possession for long periods during which they were held up over the line and unable to ground the ball. Eventually the home side managed to pin Romsey back with a long kick which Romsey thought they had touched down but the ball squirted forwards and was pounced on by a Fareham player following up to score. An easy conversion from in front of the posts took the score to 21 : 8 to the hosts.

 
Adding insult to injury, an error by the Romsey fullback, who slipped whilst. fielding a long kick, saw a Fareham player intercept his attempted pass and score a soft try under the posts which was easily converted to give the hosts a flattering 28 : 8 lead. However Romsey were not finished and spent a further long period in the opponents 22m area and scored an unconverted try leaving the final score at 28: 13 to Fareham.

Romsey can be very proud that, although missing some key players, they took the game to their opponents and might have won with the scoreline not truly representing the run of play. Romsey’s final game of the season takes place at Ganger Farm Leisure Centre on April 6 against Eastleigh and Romsey hope to maintain their competitive fifth place in the league.

Bonus points all round at Ganger Farm

Romsey RFC played their part on the weekend of the Six Nations by drawing a decent crowd to the touchline in between the televised offerings. They were treated to a breathless nine try thriller against Christchurch. The home side, captained by flank forward Harrison Scott, eventually came out on top 35-26.

 
Romsey started at a high tempo and were rewarded after 12 minutes when scrum half Dan Penn Newman made a blind side break and burst through two would-be tacklers to make the score 5-0. Romsey’s scrum was in the ascendancy but determined opposition tackling kept Harrison Scott’s side at bay.

 
A deep kick into enemy territory eventually provided Lewis Cartledge with the opportunity to plunge over from the back of a line out.
The ten point lead allowed Romsey to play with more freedom, and a fluent counter attack after 35 minutes gave the skipper a chance to set sail for the try line from half way. Aided by his streamlined haircut, the flanker streaked away to score under the posts. To underline his side’s dominance, he then ran a clever angle to score a short range try to round off a fresh wave of attacks. At half time, the blue and golds were 24-0 up, with the bonus point in the bag.

The action at the start of the second half looked ominous for the visitors. Prop Mike Streicher burst onto a pass from his scrum half but then inexplicably dropped the ball over the try line. The scrum that followed, however, had the Christchurch forwards in reverse gear and fly half Jim Lamont crashed over for try to make the score 29-0.

 
It is to the visitors’ credit that they decided to fight fire with fire, and they ran in a try under the Romsey posts. Soon, they had doubled their rally to 14 after some enterprising play through the back line.

 
With their half time lead dwindling, Romsey sensibly opted to kick two penalties to push their score up to 35, but two more Christchurch tries made the final score a respectable 35-26.

 
Both sides left the encounter with a bonus point, a just reward for an afternoon of enterprising attacking rugby.

Nothing artificial about Romsey RFC progress

The recent wet weather has taken its toll on sports fixtures in the county, but Romsey RFC’s players have enjoyed the advantage of being able to play on Ganger Farm’s superb 4G surface. The Junior section, from U5’s up, enjoyed their rugby under blue skies and went home with clean kit! 

The Blue and Golds of the Senior squad cemented in their position in the top 5 of the league with a sparkling display of attacking rugby against Portsmouth. Romsey took full advantage of playing on the 4G surface. It produced a game that was played at a fast pace, and the crowd fully enjoyed the thirteen tries scored on the day. 

Romsey scored eight of the tries, showing attacking intent throughout. Half backs Dan Penn-Newman and Jim Lamont were quick to spot the gaps in the Portsmouth defence, and ran the game from start to finish. The opening score for winger Ed Bethel was skilfully constructed and ruthlessly finished. Coach Dave Grosse was purring with satisfaction as further tries by Brad Piper, Dylan Scott and Jim Lamont saw his side race into a 22-0 lead. Portsmouth hit back with a quickly taken tap penalty on one of their rare forays into the Romsey half. A bulldozing score by winger Ollie Soundy re emphasised the home team’s superiority. With the game all but lost before half time, it is to Portsmouth’s credit that they managed to throw caution to the winds to score two more tries before the interval. 

Romsey’s healthy fourteen point lead was further improved by tries by prop Mike Streicher and captain Caine Latham. Again, Portsmouth responded with some spirit to grab a bonus point score before the end. The final score was 48-25 to Latham’s side. It was a breathless, hugely entertaining game to watch. Romsey will be hoping for a good crowd for their next home fixture against Christchurch on March 16th. With that day being the Six Nations “Super Saturday” the club bar expects to be busy!