OVER £10,000 was raised for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance from the annual Sparstoke Cup played in the memory of Tom Aslett.

A record crowd descended on Down Grange for the event and they saw Basingstoke Academy beat Sparsholt College 43-5.

However, the scoreline did not do justice to the competitiveness of the game, especially as this was Sparsholt’s first game of the season.

The highlights were a hat-trick of tries from ’Stoke winger Tani Tala, the pick being when he broke from his own half and eluded four defenders before scoring.

The try scored by Sparsholt, their first in three years, brought a huge cheer from a good and vocal crowd.

The man-of-the-match award, judged by the coaches, went to Sparholt’s scrum half Max Chapple, but all the players on the night deserve praise for their efforts, which Tom would have been proud of.

This was the seventh match between the sides and ‘Stoke have now claimed the trophy six times.

However, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance was the real winner, with organiser Richard Aslett, Tom’s father, hoping to give the charity a cheque for more than £10,000 when all monies have been collected.

This will take the total raised to over £80,000 since the cup’s inception in 2007.

Tom Aslett was just 20 when he died in July 2007 when the tractor he was driving overturned.

Due to his love of rugby, his family and friends came up with the idea of playing an annual match in his memory.

Basingstoke, the club he joined as a six-year-old, and Sparsholt College, where he trained for a career in agriculture, were the obvious choices to field teams.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance was chosen to benefit because of their efforts to help Aslett after his accident.

Despite the one-sided scoreline, Richard Aslett felt the game was keenly contested and said: “I think the score did not reflect the effort that Sparsholt College put in during the game.”

“We had our biggest crowd yet as the stand was full and there must have been over 400 people in attendance.”

He added: “I would like to thank Basingstoke Rugby Club, Sparsholt College, Colin Hibberd of Microset Graphics for the programme, Richard Alexander for the entertainment and everyone who came along and supported the evening. We look forward to doing it all again next year.”

Last Sunday, Basingstoke Academy won at Gosport and Fareham 22-19 in the Hampshire Colts League.

With a number of senior players missing through injury and illness, a young and inexperienced team showed accuracy under pressure and aggression in defence to record a hard-fought victory against a physical and well-drilled opposition.

Tries were scored by Alex Yeates, George Johnston, and Charlie Eaves, while Max Sears kicked two conversions and a penalty.