MATCH REPORT

20 Feb 2010

Andover - A - Score 27-30

Scorers: Tries Steve Brown & Dean Lewis. Mat Norton 6 penalties and a conversion.



At long last after all of the tribulations with the weather we were finally off to Andover for our first club meeting against their first fifteen. We have met several times before when we used to play their second fifteen in pre season warm up matches, so we were keen to show them how much we had improved.



The game got underway with us kicking down the hill and were soon giving the faithful travelling support, who were in good voice after a nice lunch, something to cheer about when we went three up when they were penalised for holding on and Norts slotted the first of an excellent afternoon’s kicking.



The start was soon to get even better when following an overthrown line out, Deano collected at the back of the line and quickly offloaded to Sauce who found a gap in their defence and strolled in for five under the posts. With the extra’s added we were ten up within seven minutes.



However, in front of their large contingent of VP’s supporting from the club house balcony, Andover soon woke up and following sustained pressure they broke from the base of the scrum to score seven of their own.



The lead again was stretched when Norts kicked another penalty, poetic justice as the offence was a high tackle on him.



In this see saw game the lead was to be narrowed again as they kicked a penalty for holding on. Shortly after this the referee adjudged their three quarters off side and Mat again stepped up to take another three.



Using the slope to full advantage and good kicking out of hand meant that we spent a considerable amount of the first half in their territory. It was on one such foray that we pushed them over for our second try. Taking the ball at the line out we pushed them over the line for Deano to touch down.



Again the Bridge forwards were playing out of their skins with great scrummaging and line out work. With Ed keeping their number nine honest we made it very difficult for them to launch their backs, and when they did the back row of Matt Vass, Sean and Deano were very quickly up in their faces.





This was to be the final score of the first half and whilst 21 -10 is a good lead, Andover were a strong team and we were now playing up the hill. Three further penalties from Mat and one from them after the break saw the score keep moving in our favour, taking our lead to 30 -13.



It was a hard fought contest throughout the afternoon, a point that the two Mats can both agree on. Both were seeing stars for a while after Matt Vass put in a superb tackle on their big number six and Norts on their Fijian centre.



It was Andover’s turn to use the slope and on the sixtieth minute scored a converted try and the game was still very much alive at 30-20.



Steve's amazing ability to collect the ball at his toes when running flat out, again gave him the opportunity to set the backs running and show their paces.



Despite prolonged pressure in our half outstanding work by Gadget, Twinkle toes Hammond and Grimsey kept the score at bay until two minutes from the end.



A fortunate charge down of one of our clearing kicks and some good football skills from the Andover player meant that we gifted them a late converted try that flattered the score line. The score of 30-10 seemed a much fairer reflection on the match than 30-27. However a win is a win and this was a hard fought team effort against good opposition.



This game just proved how important good discipline is. In a difficult game both teams had a player binned, but we conceded only six points to penalties whereas Andover conceded eighteen and two very narrow misses meant it could have been even worse.



Finally, it was great to see Tim Godden back in the side playing up to his usual standard in the unusual position for him at thirteen.





Match Photos - Click here

Players :1. Nick Tyler, 2. Lee Marsden, 3. Chris Leaton, 4. Alex Tattersall, 5. Chris Spain, 6. Matt Vass, 7. Sean Gorman, 8. Dean Lewis, 9. Ed Douglas, 10. Steve Brown, 11. Dan Brown, 12. Mat Norton, 13. Tim Godden, 14. Mike Grimes, 15. James Hammond, 16. Philip Collier, 17. Keith Walsh, 18. A N Other, 19. , 20. ,