Basingstoke Cavaliers 10 Andover Hinds 31.

Jody Morgan’s Hinds faced snow and sleet as they arrived at the Cavalier’s ground but they made the most of the soggy and sub-zero conditions to secure a convincing victory.

The four tries kept the scoreboard ticking over, but it was the irrepressible and impregnable defence which was Andover’s foundation and overwhelmed whatever Basingstoke tried to throw at it. The Hinds’ scrum overpowered and outmuscled at every opportunity with hooker Steve Rogerson securing the ball against the head every time. An action filled match saw debutant Dan Joliffe go close to getting onto the scoresheet for the first time with a catch from the restart before being forced into touch by a badly timed slip and a barrage of defenders less than a metre from the line. Manager Morgan’s game was cut short when he was carried off with an injured knee just before half-time and a yellow card was issued to Andover prop Jack Rennison following a dubious spear tackle.

Rennison may have seen yellow for one infringement, but it did not seem to matter too much to Andover, who remained well in control. Andover, defensively were solid all afternoon with big hits and fierce tackles shattering any Basingstoke attack, most notably Craig Allan, Rich Oliver and man of the match Craig Snook. Try scorers Ash Gait and Jonny Rogers all broke into great space and proved their worth and when skipper Andy Dawkins finished things off it had added the final gloss to the Hind’s afternoon. Completing an accurate performance off the tee was the outstanding boot of Rich Woodley, starting off the Andover score with a penalty and hitting all four conversions.

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