LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
(league fixtures are in red)

Saturday, 28th January 2012
FIRST XV 41 CHOBHAM 8
HAVANT 19 SECOND XV 13
THIRD XV 5 SOLENT UNIVERSITY I 10

Sunday, 29th January 2012
TOTTIES 34 PORTSMOUTH 5
COLTS XV 19 ANDOVER 7
FAWLEY 7 UNDER 16 XV 51
UNDER 15 STAGS XV 47 EASTLEIGH 0
WINCHESTER 50 UNDER 15 BUCKS XV 0

FIRST XV 41 CHOBHAM 8

Totts got off to a good start, showing lots of determination and a sense of purpose. We were soon established within the Chobham twenty-two metres area using width and depth to gain momentum. Chobham's back line were caught offside and the boot of Dave Wood split the woodwork to give the home side an early 3 – 0 lead. Relentless pressure followed and some fine open play exposed the frailties of the visitors' defence. A tight, controlled drive from the forwards, an indication of many to come, put the on-fire Richard Buck over within the melee and Dave Wood's conversion increased Tott's lead to 10 – 0 in as many minutes. An excellent clearance kick into touch from Dave Wood resulted in a brilliant line-out steal by Ollie Northover, fifteen metres from the Chobham line. Good scrummaging and a tight harmonized drive followed, allowing Dan Taylor to squeeze across and touch down, 15 – 0 and a quarter of the game played. Totts kept up the momentum and tested Chobham's defences time and again, but a penalty against us for not releasing allowed outside half Harry Guy to put three points on the docket for our Surrey guests, 15 – 3. More relentless pressure from a co-ordinated Tottonians' effort forced Chobham to put in a hurried relieving kick from deep inside their own twenty-two. Thanks to a fast reaction from Joe Searle, the kick was charged down and after tentatively retrieving the loose ball, he was able to touch down just left of the posts. Dave Wood did his duty and the score was now 22 – 3, a respectable and well-deserved half time result for the home side.
The second half opened with Chobham upping their game with a barrage of frantic attacks deep into Totts' territory. For twenty unrelenting minutes they tried to break down our resolute defence, but to no avail, with fullback Scott Rogers alert to every occasion. Eventually, their doggedness paid off and they were rewarded with a try in Co-op corner, following a tap-and-go penalty, 22 – 8. At this point Chobham were in the ascendancy, but could they crack Totts' ever-increasing confidence and will-to-win? No, was the answer. A countering mission onto Chobham turf resulted in an admirably controlled maul at the breakdown, from which Dan Taylor broke free and found Mike Searle. Bewildering the defence in just three steps, a quick pass to Richard Buck was all it took for the latter to find a path over the line, giving Totts' a well-deserved bonus point for our fourth try. Dave Wood once again claimed the extras to increase the home side's advantage to 29 – 8, much to the delight of the watching partisans. Although our forwards were gelling beautifully, so also were the backs. Some superb passing along the three-quarters resulted in Nick Jones looping inside to touch down, just right of the sticks. Easy meat for Dave Wood, 36 – 8. The expected renaissance of our guests was not forthcoming and a triumphant Tottonians side sealed an excellent victory with a final try, which personified the inventiveness of this occasion, when a return pass on the blind side of a skirmish put Mike Searle over close to the corner, to cap a fine team performance 41 – 8.

Matt Searle, W Gilroy, D Drake, O Northover, S Cranton, J Searle, M Wisnewski, D Taylor.
B Marshall, D Wood, J Locke, Mike Searle, R Buck, N Jones, S Rogers.
(S Rodaway, J Angove, M Thomas.)

Bill Barnes

This League Game started off with vigour from the Andover pack, who pressurised Totts in and around our twenty two for a good ten minutes.  One push-over try attempt from the visitors was held up and our solid defence frustrated further attempts by the men in black to win the forwards' battle.
Totts settled down after this initial onslaught and attempted to play running rugby, but our handling skills were letting us down badly. Not a good sight for the spectators, but the lads stuck at it and eventually, just on the half-hour, we put a score on the board when full back Mark Simmons collected a probing kick and galloped midfield from the half way line, circumventing the Andover defence and touched down wide and right of the posts, 5 – 0.
No further excitement from either side took us to half time.
The half time break included a progress assessment and appropriate feedback was given by Head Coach Adrian Spafford. Twelve minutes into the second half saw Ady's words of wisdom put into practice, when our back line executed a move (it's a secret) and inside centre Todd Arnison crossed the line just left of the posts. The tally was now 12 – 0 with the extras provided by Ben Stanistreet.
Our backs seemed to have put their act together at last. Fifteen minutes in, the back line press saw Andover spill the ball centre midfield. Todd Arnison scooped up the ball and sent a killer pass on to outside centre Ben Stanistreet, who hit the gap and finished off close to the left uprights. He converted his own try to bring the advantage to 19 – 0 to the Water Lane side.
The remainder of the half continued with both sides looking to outsmart each other. With minutes to the final whistle, Andover took home a consolation pushover try in Co-op corner. Final score Totts 19 Andover 5.
We seemed really keen today and the backs did well to keep composure after a difficult first half, when the platform set by the hard work of our forwards was unrewarded until very late in,  with some good opportunities lost due to handling errors. The recovery came from a team determination to put things right.
Their were some notable performances! Worthy of a mention was our front row. Hooker Andy King took several against the head. Replacement first-time prop for us Jack Palmer showed great character and stood fast in the scrum and the Man Of The Match was Andy Robinson who carried really well and whose defensive play was outstanding, also ruling the roost in the lines out.
In the end this turned out to be a winning performance, but work needs to be done in readiness for next Sunday's game against New Milton.

Jeff Rawlins