AFTER the deluge in the morning, Romsey entertained Farnborough at the Sports Centre under blue skies and autumnal zephyrs.

Before the game, there was a minute’s silence for long time club stalwart Dick Travers who recently unexpectedly passed away. He was a kind and gentle man full of humility and charm and will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of being acquainted.

Romsey fielded a makeshift team with slightly more forwards than normal, against a young but burly Farnborough side in their splendid pink socks. The initial exchanges were fairly even until Romsey’s back line, led outstandingly by the stand in stand-off Captain Rob Hart, created space from first phase ball and centre Latham touched down in the corner.

The Romsey front row of Pinkney, Hoad and Gallagher very much held their own against a weighty pack helped in no small way by the energetic engine room of Hughes and Pattinson. The forwards maintained excellent control of a greasy ball enabling outside centre Murrant to score effortlessly.

Again there was no conversion, throughout the game there was a great deal of kicking and full back and bar manager Jim Lamont covered himself in glory fielding the ball flawlessly and achieving side steps and jinking runs that veteran full back Alan Bourne would have been proud of.

As the game progressed Romsey stated to achieve dominance in the forwards with the mobility and determination of wing forwards Piper and Lamacraft standing out. This passage of play led to club Treasurer Pattinson roaring over from 20 yards to score Romsey’s third try, which was assisted by one of the many darting runs from tyro scrum half Harris.

Farnborough then launched a series of attacks leading to their first try, score at the end of the first half 17 – 7.

The beginning of the second half saw Farnborough gird their loins and pressurised Romsey into a series of mistakes, which led to another try. Throughout this period, young Harrison Scott impressed both his watching family members and team mates with several snaking runs to make copious amounts of yardage. These surges were consolidated by the now rampant Romsey forwards and the resultant quick ball was spun out to allow new boy Johnson to dot down in the corner.

Roused by this score, Farnborough found more energy and narrowed the score line to 22 – 14. The last ten minutes or so were played at a ferocious pace as Romsey chased the bonus point win to keep distance between the teams in the league. The final denouement came when winger Daly dived over after a mazy run to secure the bonus point. A conversion was added.

Although Farnborough scored another try, it was not enough to prevent Romsey from securing full points and a sense of general cheer across the watching spectators and esteemed President who despite being in foreign parts kept an active eye on events. Final score 27 – 19. Despite the injuries and player unavailability, the eighteen players who participated did the Romsey shirt proud, and everyone is looking forward to building on this momentum when we visit Fareham Heathens next Saturday.