Southsea 13 – Alresford 28 [20th December 2025]
Alresford travelled to Southsea on a chilly December afternoon in our last game of 2025.
The home team kicked off the first half, and it became apparent that this would be an attritional, forwards-based game, given the conditions underfoot.
Southsea attacked the away try line, but we held firm until the awarding of a penalty after 4 minutes. Duly converted, the score was 3-0.
But buoyed by a superb performance from an increasingly dominant pack, back came Alresford as a period of relentless pressure resulted in the scoring of our first try of the afternoon. Although unconverted, we were now in the lead at 3-5.
And the award of a penalty after 35 minutes for the away side was slotted over, as our lead was increased to 3-8.
But the last word of the half went to Southsea, who scored their first try; again unconverted, the score at the half was;
Southsea 8 – Alresford 8
The away team kicked off the scored half, knowing the game was in the balance, but eminently winnable.
We continued to press and search for gaps, and our efforts were rewarded with the award of another penalty 10 minutes into the second half – our lead was now back at 8-11.
And 8 minutes later, to the delight of an increasingly vocal away support, we scored our second try of the afternoon. The conversion making the score 8-18.
As the game became increasingly scrappy and fractious, the away team maintained their composure with a further penalty to increase the score to 8-21.
Ten minutes before the end, a disjointed home defence were put to the sword as we scored our third try, with the resultant conversion pushing the score to 8-28.
But it was Southsea who had the last word of the afternoon with an uncoverted try scored just before the whistle, making the final score;
Southsea 13 – Alresford 28
This was a composed, mature performance in which we showed an increased resilience and self belief. It is now two weeks in a row that we have been either behind or level at half time, and gone onto win, and that is something we should rightfully take pride in.
Against a team that made it awkward for us all afternoon, we played the conditions superbly, our pack again were markedly in a league of their own, our defence was superb, our attack functioned well in the windy conditions, and even if not everything came off, the confidence that we have to try these moves bodes well for 2026, and I for one am relishing the upcoming battles.
Our thanks to Southsea for the match, our best wishes for the rest of the season and we look forward to the return fixture in March.