ROMSEY went into this match at a very windy Portsmouth on the back of a large defeat the week before and were looking to get their campaign back on track.

Bolstered by their biggest squad of the season, Romsey started the game on the front foot. It only took 8mins to elapse before Romsey registered their first try when after four great phases of rucking led by Oli Glanville and Amaan Khan, prop Rees Hill crashed over the line form ten yards out. Sam Newman was unfortunate with the conversion.

Romsey were full of confidence and the forwards were having a great day against their much bigger but less agile opponents. On 14 minutes the agility of the pack, led by the influential Alfie Lawrence stealing the ball on the ground, won the ball tight on the touchline by Portsmouth’s 22 yard line and scrum half Jack Murrant slipped the ball to centre Charlie Taylor who, with lots of ground still cover, jinked and side stepped a merry dance to the line to touch down. Again, Newman was unlucky with the conversion.

After a bit a spirited play by the hosts in the middle of the park, Romsey again broke the shackles in the form of Khan who wrestled the ball on to man of the match Oli Coburn who scored a greatly individual try from 25 yards out. The conversion was unsuccessful.

Right on half time Romsey scored their fourth try when Murrant chased his own kick and retrieved the ball and played it to centre Adam Parkin who neatly offloaded to Khan who gracefully strode past a desperate scrabbling defence to lay the ball neatly under the posts. Newman completed the conversion for a 22-0 half time cushion.

Much to their credit Portsmouth came out of the traps well and in the first minute of the second half scored under the posts after good forward play. The conversion was good.

It took a while for Romsey to regain their composure but after quarter of an hour they restored their four try advantage when after great work by marauding forward Louis Bates the backs were set free and Ed Bethel managed to finish superbly in the far corner. The conversion into a biting wind was missed by fly half Henry Brown.

The wind and a bit of fatigue set in for a period as both teams traded territory and possession and the odd penalty. Into the last quarter Romsey regained some good ground but could not find the vital breakthrough until man mountain Lewis Cartledge showed a great turn of speed wide on the right and slipped the ball on to Dylan Scott who in turn fed winger Brandon Hughes who, still with a good 30 yards to go, set off like a bullet and traversed the entire home defence to come to a joyful stop under the posts for the final try. This time Brown was able to slot the conversion to complete the scoring.

This was a welcome confidence boosting win and stands the boys in good stead for tougher challenges ahead.