Despite a last-minute scramble to secure a winning try that was disallowed for a double movement, this two-bonus-points loss for Petersfield was a disappointment in many areas.

Within two minutes of the kick-off, with Chobham in possession from the start, Petersfield were pinged for offside, and Chobham, on the twenty-two in front of the posts, gleefully took the three points on offer—a lead they were not to relinquish for long throughout the match. 3-0

Petersfield’s response from the restart was to move upfield into the home team’s twenty-two and attempt to get the outside centre and right winger combination of Greg Jansen and the returning George Davis to break down the fifteen-metre channel. Chobham’s tackler was slow to roll away, and Nick Blumlein kicked for the corner. Petersfield relied on their lineout rolling maul to provide tighthead prop Dan Sargent a route to cross the tryline in the corner. The difficult conversion fell just outside the left post. 3-5

From the restart, Chobham secured the ball and moved through several phases to score in the left corner with an unconverted try. 8-5

At the start of the second quarter, [u]Franco Tomic was yellow-carded[/u] for what might have been a late tackle, and almost simultaneously the returning second row Lewis McGarr was injured and replaced by the industrious Ryan Morse.

Petersfield continued to battle against a strong and skilled pack where their often superior scrummaging was fully tested, to the point that they were scrummaging backwards on their put-in, making life hard for Alex Duffus at scrum-half and leaving number eight Liam Perkins little time to pick up the ball.

Petersfield again transgressed in front of their posts, with hands in the ruck for a penalty, from which Chobham added three points. 11-5

On thirty-five minutes, Petersfield received what might have been a warning that if the rash of penalties continued, a red card was imminent. Chobham replied soon after with a further penalty kick as the visitors were once again judged offside. 14-5

Fortunes momentarily reversed as the hosts failed to release a jackaled ball, with Dan Sargent providing for Nick Blumlein to take the penalty in front of the posts. 14-8

In the minute before halftime, [u]Chobham had a player red-carded[/u] for an offence that was unclear to most on the touchline. With Chobham down to fourteen players for the rest of the match and the score at 14-8 at halftime, there was much to play for.

Chobham opened the second half by scoring from a lineout that some felt was awarded incorrectly and several metres out from Petersfield’s tryline. Chobham mauled the ball infield and split Petersfield’s defence, allowing their outside centre to pick a superb angled line to dot down over the line with a converted try. 21-8

Despite their player disadvantage, Chobham managed another unconverted try through quick offloads and aggressive running. 26-8

While the clubhouse touchline was exploited by both teams, it seemed that the touch judge had a somewhat generous view of where the ball crossed the line, and which team it belonged to. As one pitch-side wit put it, “he forgot to raise his flag in favour of his white stick!!”

Into the final quarter, Petersfield brought on their remaining replacements—Ryan Wilkie to loosehead prop, while the replaced Sam Janaway moved to hooker and Nick Wilde to openside flanker, with Jack Janaway shifting across. Debutant academy player Ethan Horsfall moved to the wing, while a reshuffle in the centres saw Will Mathews take a well-deserved rest.

A penalty kick to the right corner and a Petersfield lineout take set up a maul that became static with fierce defence from Chobham, but it was Dan Sargent at the tail who spotted a paper-thin gap to crash through from five metres and score. Nick Blumlein added the extras from a very tight angle. 26-15

In the closing minutes, another Petersfield infringement in front of the posts gifted a further penalty three points to Chobham. 29-15

A number of penetrating runs by the back five of Charlie Muir, Ethan Horsfall, Greg Jansen, George Davis, and Joe Knowles were hunted down by Chobham’s pacy backline, rarely allowing Petersfield into the red zone. However, Chobham’s defence also began to slip, and they conceded penalties, allowing Petersfield to set up lineouts in the corners.

Dan Sargent completed his hat-trick with a move in the opposite corner from his second try, although this one went unconverted. 29-20

Captain Matt Momber poached the ball from the base of a collapsing maul to burrow over in the left corner for an unconverted try. 29-25 The final three minutes saw Petersfield in Chobham’s twenty-two, and despite valiant efforts from the Petersfield pack and what looked like a certain try by Nic Wilde, he was judged to have made a double movement, ending the match with a penalty against Petersfield.

The coaches and many players were frustrated by their poor start and wished that they could have played from the first kick-off with the same energy as the last twenty minutes of this, and previous, matches.

Game Details | Chobham 29 - 25 Petersfield RFC
Sunday 26th October

Try Scorers:

Dan Sargent x3
Matt Momber

Kicking Success:

Nick Blumlein: 2/5 (40%)

1 Conversion

1 Penalty

Points Conceded:

3 Tries

1 Conversion

4 Penalties

Line-up:

1. Sam Janaway

2. Nic Wilde

3. Dan Sargent (POTM)

4. Lewis McGarr

5. Franko Tomic

6. Matt Momber

7. Jack Janaway

8. Liam Perkins

9. Alex Duffus

10. Nick Blumlein

11. Charlie Muir

12. Will Mathews

13. Greg Jansen

14. George Davis

15. Joe Knowles

Replacements:

16. Ryan Wilkie

17. Ryan Morse

18. Ethan Horsfall

Regional 2 South Central Standings After GW7

With the second block of fixtures complete, our senior sides now enjoy a well-earned week off from match action, taking time to rest and recover ahead of a busy end to 2024. Next up for our 1st XV is a clash with Bournemouth RFC at Penns Place next Saturday. Bournemouth come into the game off the back of an emphatic 73-7 victory over North Dorset.

Preceding the match, we’re excited to host our annual “Coaches’ Lunch” in the clubhouse, inviting all coaches, youth, minis, girls’ players, and parents to join us. If you’re interested, please drop our club chairman, Stuart Barden, an email!

If a week without rugby sounds unbearable, fear not! Sunday promises plenty of action at Penns Place. Our Under 15s host Trojans and our Under 14s take on Tottonians from 11am. Or, if you need a bit more recovery time, head down for our mighty Under 16s Girls match at 12:30pm as they face Basingstoke RFC in their second league fixture of the season!