A mix and match Southampton second team took to the field against Fordingbridge featuring Alex Hill and Pascal Garrard for their returns to action following injuries. Solent Spitfire John Cole came in at full back to make his club debut, whilst relative SRFC newcomers Tom Humphrey, Cam Coffin and Lachlan Fasher took the chance for some extra game time.

The first twenty minutes were fairly evenly balanced, but Southampton grabbed the first try after a blistering run from Jordan Dashwood. The home side found themselves asking the ref for clarity on the hand-off rule after a number of defenders found themselves on the receiving end of a Dashwood palm to the face on his way to the line, but the ref was happy and the try was awarded.

Southampton spent much of the half camped in the Fordingbridge 22 but were kept out with some last-ditch defending. Lachlan Fasher went close twice, firstly being held up over the line and when he crossed the try line for the second time the ref adjudged he had knocked on as he grounded the ball.

New boy John Cole got stuck in fiercely and in doing so rubbed Fordingbridge up the wrong way, painting a large target on his chest whenever he carried the ball. This clearly distracted the home side, who became fixated on getting in a hit rather than properly defending under their posts. The ref took exception to the attention he was getting and awarded Southampton a penalty, and after a quick tap Cole forced his way over the line - much to the annoyance of Fordingbridge.

The score at half time was 0 - 12.

Fordingbridge started the second half well and grabbed a try early on to narrow the scoreline to 5 - 12, but Saints hit back soon after when John Cole crossed for his second try of the game. Lachlan Fasher then went better than his first half near-misses as he took a quick tap penalty and powered his way over the line. Tom Humphrey's boot made it 5-19.

The next try was a thing of surreal beauty. Front row partners Alex Hill and Cam Coffin found themselves lurking in midfield as the ball came out from a ruck on the left wing. Brilliant reading of the game, or great positional play made possible by lazy running? The jury is out... PROP FORWARD Hill then put through a perfectly weighted grubber kick which bounced up nicely for the onrushing Coffin, who gathered it to score.

Fordingbridge then hit back after a neat interception at the back of a Southampton breakdown. As the ball came out, their player nipped in between two Saints to steal a pop pass and run in to score.

They then grabbed another try from the restart. The Southampton line did not come up as one and the ball catcher exploited the poor organisation to run in straight from the kick off. The young scrum half confidently stepped up to drop goal the conversion, but shanked it badly to the left of the posts. 15 - 31.

Southampton then rounded things off when Coffin and Hill combined again to manufacture an opportunity - even if Hill didn't know much about it. A pre-planned line out move was meant to go short to Hill at the front of the line, but the throw came in before he had even turned round. Instead it bounced off his arm, fell kindly for Cam Coffin who gathered it to run in and score wide on the left. Fordingbridge were left appealing for a knock on against Hill and not straight at the line out - both of which they probably had a reasonable case for - but the ref awarded the try. Jordan Dashwood, who lost a contact lens and was now playing one-eyed, for some reason decided a kick wide on the left wing was the time to take over kicking duties from Humphrey. It turned out to be a good decision as somehow he found the target, giving Southampton a 15 - 38 victory.

The Man of the Match performance went to John Cole, partly for his ferocious runs and two tries and partly because it would annoy Fordingbridge (although to give them credit, all animosity was left on the pitch and both sides shared a good natured beer in the bar afterwards). As a non-drinker Cole nominated Luke Inder to take to Fordingbridge's custom MOTM stage on his behalf, which was richly deserved as Inder was a keen and powerful ball carrier throughout the game and is becoming a key member of the team since his arrival a few weeks ago.

Dick of the Day would have gone to Alex Hill because, although his grubber kick was impeccable and led to a try, he is a prop and that kind of thing should not be encouraged. Hill left before the big moment, leaving Lachlan Fasher in his All Blacks shirt on the receiving end of some very minor English retribution only moments after George Ford's drop goal attempt had drifted wide of the Twickenham post.

Southampton Rugby Club

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