Southampton's planned league game was cancelled with Overton unable to field a full team, giving Southampton a walkover win. Berkshire side Crowthorne found themselves in the same position so headed to Test Park, where they joined forces with the Overton players who were able to make the trip. Facing a team from another county league is always a step into the unknown, but both sides were keen to test themselves against unfamiliar opposition.

Crowthorne came flying out of the blocks, regaining the ball from their kick off and surging into the Southampton 22. A series of crashes from the forwards was met with some resolute defence, before Southampton finally turned the ball over and were able to run clear. A break from skipper Jordan Dashwood took them deep into the Crowthorne half, before putting Tom Howells in for an early counter attacking try. Dashwood converted to give Saints a 7-0 lead.

They doubled their lead five minutes later when Lachlan Fasher ripped the ball from a Crowthorne player, before Alex Hill then finished off a try after a series of crashes from the forwards. Dashwood made no mistake with either conversion, despite being forced to drop kick one conversion as the kicking tee failed to materialise on time.

After initially deciding to defend around the fringes of the rucks, Southampton had spotted the opportunity was there to counter ruck and turned over a number of Crowthorne attacks. They fell foul of the ref's whistle on a few occasions as well, as tacklers were judged to have not released before playing the ball.

Following one such penalty, Crowthorne put the ball into the corner and fed their big runners from the line out. It was an Overton player who ultimately forced his way over to get Crowthorne's first points on the board. They grabbed a second try ten minutes later but were unable to convert it, making the score at half time 21-12.

Southampton hit back at the start of the second half and it looked as though Tom Howells would grab his second try of the game. Finding himself a metre from the try line and with a single defender to beat, the jinky scrum half surprisingly opted to offload to Alex Hill rather than step the defender (like his does to us in training every week). Hill is equally difficult to stop (but for other reasons) and the big prop duly bagged his second try. 26-12 to Southampton.

Crowthorne scored again making it 26-19. Southampton's next try was a repeat of last week's winning try at Ventnor. Jordan Dashwood picked up the ball at the back of the scrum and attacked the blind side. He drew the last man and put Chris Alston through on the outside to extend the lead to 31-19.

Crowthorne then hit back when a blatant high tackle from Luke Still drew a collective "Ooooh" from the surrounding Saints players, who stood back expecting a whistle - and a card. But the ref played the advantage and the tackled player made the most of the opportunity to dive over for the try. Had he not scored and this not been a friendly, chances are Luke's first involvement in the game could have been his last - but as it was the ref decided the try was punishment enough.

The Saints scrum had been dominant for much of the game, often driving the visitors back, but this time they stole the ball against the head. With the Crowthorne backs lined up to the right expecting the ball, Southampton attacked left. Tom Howells found Dave Ward who thought about dummying the last man but instead put Josh Fearon in for an easy run in.

With a two try cushion restored, Southampton the closed out the game in style. Jack Leadbitter made a break and drew the biggest Crowthorne player on the pitch. He was absolutely flattened in the process, but offloaded to Dave Ward who broke through the line but didn't have the legs to finish himself. He was caught by the defence but Southampton attacked again and it was Josh Fearon who touched down for his second try.

The final act of the game saw Alec Gray make an excellent break, dodging a number of defenders as he made a break for the line. He was tackled just short of the line, but Saints had ample support with Robbie Ashby at the front of the queue of waiting attackers and with no defenders in sight. The final score was 46-26.

A good win for Southampton, against an unknown side from a different league. Credit to the Overton lads who travelled down for the game, to Crowthorne for taking on the fixture at short notice and also to Ian Budd and Aaron Owen who ran out for the visitors to help boost numbers. Before the game Buddy specifically cleaned the match ball "to help with the backs' catching". Reassuring to see his catching isn't any better when he's wearing Crowthorne kit...

Luke Still earned himself a pint on a chair for his first game for the Firsts, while Alex Hill was Dick of the Day.

Southampton Rugby Club

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