Romsey 24 Andover 10.

It looked like the end of the season had come early for Oakwood sponsored Andover last Saturday, as the players basked in the spring sunshine and many completely forgot to play rugby.

In a disjointed and strangely lethargic performance Andover just could not build up a head of steam and in the end succumbed to a Romsey side who they beat comfortably earlier in the season.

Andover failed to adjust to the conditions and the large noisy home crowd and looked nervous throughout, but they always looked capable of winning this game and will rue the fact that they did not.

“This was a very disappointing performance today and it happens sometimes in sport.” said coach Andy Waite. “We have an abundance of skill and pace in this side, but Romsey showed that sometimes collective will can be the most important thing and they had that in bucket loads.” It all began well for Andover who dominated the early exchanges and after a scrum against the head led to a penalty, Jack Stott calmly gave them the lead.

They had several chances to extend the lead but unforced errors and poor decision making let Romsey off the hook and they needed no second bidding and clawed their way in front with a neat try, a penalty and a well struck drop goal. At half-time Andover reorganised and despite conceding a try straight after the break there was a big improvement as the half wore on. Graham Campbell, Alex Hibdidge and Tom Waite began to get their driving game going and with the backs seeing some ball Andover launched a series of attacks but the pace and power of skipper James Dawson, Alex Kane, Stott and Elliott Copestake was largely wasted.

As the end approached Andover did finally get the score they deserved when Craig Snook grabbed his first ever first team try, converted by Stott but even that failed to ignite them and Romsey came straight back to repay them in kind.

“I think this is one we just need to learn from and put behind us” said Waite. “With a young side you can get this inconsistency. With a bit more venom in our play and more control we had the skills to win this game comfortably, but these boys have to learn that you can't just turn up and expect to win against strong proud teams, you have to earn the right.” “If we had taken chances at key times and had a couple of decisions gone our way, especially at the scrum, things might have been different, but overall I think Romsey just wanted it more.”