Fareham Heathens 12 - 49 Romsey

Romsey knew that they had to take full advantage of the gusting wind in the first half, and they certainly did that, scoring 36 unanswered points against a brave but ultimately outgunned Fareham Heathens side.

After just two minutes Sam Adams was freed up by a smart break from a Romsey scrum deep in their own half, and he outpaced the cover defence to open his account. The home side came back strongly, driving at Romsey’s midfield. The back row trio of Garraway, Scott and Murrant (and later Daly) competed fiercely at the breakdowns all afternoon and possession was turned over for a relieving kick by Penn-Newman.

Despite the pressure exerted by the Heathens' scrummage in the opening exchanges, Romsey were able to turn a scrum over and a sweeping move released Rhys Hill for his debut Senior try.

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A Jim Lamont penalty after more sustained Romsey pressure, followed by a second Sam Adams try and a beautifully executed catch and drive score for Dan Murrant meant that a match-winning lead, as well as a bonus point, was already all but secured with only half an hour gone. The home side tried to fight back, launching more trademark drives, but again they were turned over. A textbook spiral kick downwind by skipper Caine Latham caught the Heathens out of position, and great follow-up play by Romsey resulted in Rhys Hill scooping up a loose ball and doubling his career tally. Full back Lamont’s energetic support play was rewarded by another try and Romsey went into the halftime huddle 36-0 up.

Heathens’ hopes of starting the second half positively were crushed by a clever chip into their corner, and Sam Adams pounced on it to score his second of the day.

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Another excellent kick into the breeze by Jim Lamont pushed the score out to 44-0.

With the result of the game now in little doubt, it was to Heathens’ credit that they kept going, capitalising on a poor Romsey kick out of defence to put themselves on the scoreboard. A few minutes later a series of drives off a line out close to the Romsey line resulted in another home team score. Substitutions and a yellow card for both sides made the second half a scrappy encounter, and Romsey’s superb form of the first half all but evaporated. A very late hattrick try for winger Adams improved matters, and the final score was 49-12 to Romsey.

With Caine Latham’s team now on a five-match winning streak, they entertain high-flying Havant on Saturday (25th February) at Ganger Farm.