Romsey 22-34 Aldershot and Fleet

THE excellent Ganger Farm surface gave no hint of the recent stormy weather and Romsey started the game brightly. 

A couple of penalties near the posts were turned down in an effort to keep the visitors under the cosh, and after six minutes an impressive catch and drive from a line out resulted in hooker Alfie Lawrence plunging over for a try. Aldershot and Fleet responded quickly however, a sweeping move being rewarded by a try.

Romsey’s dominance in the tight phases was underlined by another drive which was fed to Mike Streicher for Romsey’s second try of the afternoon. A third catch and drive score was added ten minutes later as Lawrence doubled his tally. At 17-7, the home team was firmly in control with half time beckoning. They made the mistake of loosening their stranglehold on the opposition, however, and the visitors made the most of the opportunity by scoring just before halftime. 

Romsey started the second half aggressively and scored after a concerted wave of attacks to open up a ten point lead. The visitors responded impressively, running the ball whenever the opportunity presented itself. Instead of building on their lead, Romsey sat back and soon found their opponents gathering momentum and building their own lead with three very good tries. They had turned the tables on Caine Latham’s team and they looked a very different side in the last quarter of the match. 

The game ended at 34-22 to the visitors and Romsey’s frustration at the final whistle was clear to see. They will be determined to bounce back as they travel to face a strong Overton side next week (13th). Their next home game is against Ventnor on the 20th.