On an overcast day which promised to deliver rain but never showed, Romsey were much the same. Whilst the rain was not entirely wanted, Romsey needed to perform, with pressure building from results going against them. Following on from a win in the cup against Locks Heath Pumas, Romsey looked to push on from that success.

They started with surety, pushing Solent back into their half, with a series of crushing runs from their forwards, allowing the backs to probe and penetrate the Solent defences. The home side rebuffed the initial assault on their try line, and pushed Romsey back. Romsey were quickly back on the offensive with the ball being distributed quickly to Toby Bull who put up a chip which soared into the skies.

A bobbled catch by the Solent winger gave Fly Half Bull the opportunity to close and put pressure on the Solent player, ripping the ball out, and scoring in the same motion. Unfortunately, Toby couldn’t net the conversion on his own try. This was the way Romsey wanted to play against their opponents, high pressure and taking advantage of opposition mistakes, and being clinical. Romsey could not build on the excellent individual score by Toby Bull and the loss of Macca Campbell to a head injury did not help with Romsey trying to resume their momentum. Frankie Powell-Wright replaced him and moments later was penalised for not releasing the ball and was sin-binned for his troubles. From the immediate penalty, Solent kicked for the corner, and mauled the ball over the try line from the following lineout. Romsey were quickly under pressure once again as Solent used their numerical advantage. They drove over for a try in exactly the same manner as the first, as the maul punched through Romsey’s straggling defenders.

It was not all doom and gloom for Romsey as a Penalty was awarded after a sustained period inside Solent’s final third. A period, highlighted by Prop Gerry Francis, finding himself isolated on the wing, stepped inside, causing two Solent players to crash into each other. Toby Bull stepped up and notched the penalty over. Romsey also had a try right at the death of the half, with Alex Lee breaking through from his own ten-metre line. A smooth gliding run halted but Romsey were quick to apply the foot to the pedal. The ball was recycled quickly and fed to Josh Davies who flashed over the try line for the score. Toby Bull netted the convertion.

The second half was one-sided, as Solent dominated the majority of the play.

Romsey’s forays up the field were either kicks up field or extensive running moves. Henry Ashton had a sublime break showcasing his strength and speed, and the backs linked up well. But Solent’s defence was strong, and Romsey found themselves isolated.

Solent cleared their lines and took advantage of Romsey’s mistakes to score two more further tries to finally defeat Romsey 28-15.

Romsey now have some time off before their next league game, but before then, Romsey take on Chineham in the Hampshire Cup on Saturday.