Petersfield held on to retain second place in the South Central Two League by one league point over Winchester and Farnham, who both have a much greater positive points scored difference. Neither team had ever previously met, so speculation amongst both camps was rife, as, based on the limited form to date, it was unclear who would prevail.

Petersfield opened the scoring after six minutes when the visitors kicked from hand to turn Petersfield, only for Nick Blumlein to take a clean catch on the left and move right, making metres to pass to the charging Full Back Charlie Muir, who threaded his way through a flat-footed Wimborne defence, making thirty metres to pass to the supporting Scrum Half Alex Duffus, still with thirty metres to run, and score under the posts for Blumlein to convert. 7-0

Petersfield contained Wimborne in their half for a further fifteen minutes until the visitors broke into the home team's twenty-two. After several attacking phases, a Wimborne knock-on gave Petersfield’s forwards a scrum. From a clean pick-up, four more phases saw Petersfield lose the ball. Wimborne executed several phases before they crossed the tryline close to the posts for a converted try. 7-7

Soon after the restart, with eighteen minutes of the half to play, Number Eight Liam Perkins was yellow-carded for a perceived high tackle. After the dismissal of Perkins and the ensuing penalty, Wimborne retained possession of the ball through their strong running, Petersfield's weak tackling, and fractured defence, which found the visitors crossing the line for a further converted try. 7-14

Petersfield’s defence held firm for a further ten minutes until Liam Perkins was restored. Taking a penalty lineout twenty metres from the tryline, Petersfield’s Franco Tomic caught the ball and Perkins broke through the Petersfield maul, only to be tackled just a metre short. With the ball recycled, Tomic attempted to break through from ten metres but was halted. Petersfield then introduced their backs, who passed the ball through two players, where left-wing Miles Sampson came off his wing to take a pop pass and dive over between the posts for a converted try. 14-14

With two minutes left in the half, Wimborne lost a player to a yellow card. From the restart, Nick Blumlein kicked long but infield for Liam Perkins to leap like a salmon to catch the ball and continue to make twenty metres at pace, only to be tackled a metre short of scoring. However, Miles Sampson was in close support and acrobatically picked up the ball, touching down as part of a forward roll in the corner for an unconverted try. Half-time score 19-14

From the restart, a period of stalemate followed, with all the action between the two twenty-twos until Wimborne infringed. Blumlein elected to take a kickable penalty to get the scoreboard moving and to have Wimborne two scores behind. 22-14

At the start of the final quarter, the visitors were threatening in the hosts' twenty-two. Forming three pods of forwards and retaining the ball, they gradually broke down Field’s defence to rumble over for a converted try. 22-21

Petersfield’s pressure put Wimborne on the back foot, but disappointingly, Petersfield were unable to capitalise on field position. Even a five-metre penalty lineout couldn’t repeat last week's scoring opportunity, with Petersfield losing possession to a penalty, which the visitors kicked to halfway.

From broken play, Field had the ball on the right wing, and through five pairs of hands, it reached the accelerating Seb Tuff some thirty metres out. With full-back Charlie Muir on his outside, Tuff saw the defence open up as they assumed he would pass to Muir. Tuff sidestepped the defender and touched down for Blumlein to improve with a difficult kick. 29-21

Miles Sampson blotted his copybook by receiving a yellow card with a few minutes of the half to play. Wimborne, who throughout the game did not take a step backwards, seized the opportunity, secured the ball, and through their well-organised pack advanced upfield to score under the posts for a converted try.

The restart was on the seventy-ninth minute. Wimborne had the ball on their twenty-two and attempted to move infield while Petersfield formed a defensive line. Wimborne were tackled and pinged for not releasing, and with less than twenty seconds to play, a careful arrangement of Petersfield players ran down the clock sufficiently for a kick to touch to close off the match.

Petersfield’s forwards once again put in a great shift, while the backs defended with determination. The coaches will be looking at how to better execute try-scoring when in the red zone, as at this league level, it’s never a foregone conclusion that if the team has the ball, they will score from the twenty-two.

Squad: Harley Orr, Nic Wilde, Dan Sargent, Oli Hunt, Franco Tomic, Jack Janaway, Karter Whittock, Liam Perkins, Alex Duffus, Nick Blumlein, Miles Sampson, Will Mathews, Cam Duffus, Seb Tuff, Charlie Muir, Ryan Wilkie, Andy Wood, Ryan Morse.

Next week, there will be no league action across the regional leagues. Petersfield’s next fixture on 12 October is away at eleventh-placed Andover, though they are always a difficult opponent.