The mood was high, for both players and spectators alike. The English weather had treated us to a week in the sunshine apart from one day mid-week where pitches got a day’s worth of watering! The conditions couldn’t be better for the type of rugby this fixture deserves between two competitive and ambitious teams. It was impossible to ignore the implications of this matches result. We acknowledged amongst ourselves that the prospect of securing the league title today was always going to be in the backs of our minds. But it was only going to happen if we focused on our performance in the present moment.

Andover started well, with George Watson securing a tricky catch courtesy of a good execution of a high and accurate start kick from Totts. The ball changed hands a couple of times with kicks, turnovers and bit of scrappy handling. But the first breakthrough came when Andover chipped the ball over the back of Tott’s defensive line. It looked certain to bounce into touch, were it not for moment of athletic brilliance from flanker Kieron Bush to dive, put his hands under the ball and flick it back into the hands of Vice-Captain Alex Arter who carried it into Tott’s red zone. He was caught by a covering tackler but was able to free himself to offload to Toby Dixon running in support who crashed over for Andover's first try of the day. Converted by Tommy Gentleman. The score was 0-7.

Totts IIs enjoyed a period of sustained possession, running hard at Andover’s line and making good ground. Andover’s red-zone defence kept Totts out, with turnovers secured by Billy Pollard and James Reeder, and with Alex Arter holding up on the try line to secure goal-line restart. Eventually, Andover conceded a penalty which Totts opted to kick. Fortunately for Andover, the kick went wide. Andover managed to work their way back up the pitch with good carrying and supporting play to secure the ball at every phase. Another moment of the game came when second-row George Watson carried down the blindside and delivered an attractive back-door flick to winger Lennon Coffin. A beautiful example of forwards and backs sharing the same silky skill sets! Andover earned a penalty outside of Totts’s 22. Tommy Gentleman stepped up to kick but it bounced off the post. The ball was secured by Totts and kicked into touch. A missed penalty but a good territory gain and a platform to attack from.

The lineout, which was strong all game thanks to accurate throwing and fast movement on the ground going into the lift, was secured and transferred off the top into the hands of scrum-half James Wallace who slung an accurate long pass to James Reeder at first receiver. Reeder steamed towards the Totts defensive line, taking a good sideways step and evading the front-up tackler which saw him go through to score Andover’s second try. Converted again by Gentleman. The first half finished 0-14 to Andover II.

Overall, a solid half of rugby. With red zone defence being particularly strong. But the talk was all around shoring up our front up defence and prevent the Totts offload game so that we didn’t need to defend in our red zone.

Tottonians IIs were very much still in the game. They threatened our line every time and were able to move the ball wide swiftly. So it was important we stayed focused and not sit back. After another turnover secured, Andover carried down the right side of the pitch and went blindside from a breakdown. James Wallace flicked a dummy pass with two support runners, running convincing lines beside him and he ghosted through the line and dived over for a try in style. Taking the score to 0-19.

It was from this moment that Andover II would endure its most testing 15 minutes of the game. A good try scored by Totts II followed by 2 quick penalty kicks brought them back to within 6 points. Penalties going against us and Totts deservedly gathering momentum. They could sense a turning point. The narrative of the game had changed and now was the time for Andover to step up and stop the rot. Indeed, the resilience that defined this team’s season came to the fore. After an unforced error by Totts at the breakdown, Andover pounced on the loose ball and worked down pitch Into Totts's red zone. Andover executed a well-practiced pattern of play by keeping it tight and carrying hard around the fringe. Replacement front-row Samson Earle was the man to finish the play. And scored with a powerful pick and go. With the try unconverted, the score was 13-24. Tottonians felt they were very much still in the game and were raring to go on the restart.

But what followed was arguably the finest 10 minutes of play for Andover II so far this season. The carrying, the pace, the keeping ball alive mentality – characterised most by the balance of power and soft hands from front-row Elliott Byrne - but others followed. Every carry had someone running from deep on the carrier’s shoulder and the offload game was devastating. 2 near identical tries, first by George Watson and second, by Captain Tommy Gentleman, scoring his first try of the season. The score which sealed Andover II's promotion and league title. To top it off, despite both tries being touchline conversions, Tommy nailed them both. Final score: Tottonians II 13 – 38 Andover II.

Notwithstanding there’s still 2 more games left of the season. The players, supporters and wider club are right to be incredibly proud of what Andover II achieved this season. The focus was always on performance over result and getting better every time. But in doing that and individuals developing with every game, the results have looked after themselves. We look forward now to finishing the remaining fixtures with the best performances we’re capable of producing.

It had been over a month since Andover II last played. We travelled down to Eastleigh, keen to maintain our winning momentum into the new year on what was a very cold Saturday. We’d trained well and in good numbers during the interim and we looked focused in the warm-up. We had a sense that Eastleigh IIs were going to throw the kitchen sink at us – so the message of the pre-match chat was to set the tone early and win the physicality exchanges to give us our platform. 

We started the game very much cultivating that pre-match message.  Eastleigh came at us with intent and a slick attacking pattern that sought to undo the Andover line, switching the point of attack and trying to exploit the blindside. But thanks to good organisation and big hits from the likes of Roman Barton-Knott, Billy Pollard and Scott Kay – Eastleigh, making no forward yards were eventually forced to cede possession by box kicking to touch. The next few minutes of the opening half were characterised by an exchange of carries and Andover starting to apply pressure through good execution of our attack structure and some smart kicking into space from Tommy Gentleman. The deadlock was broken when Andover won a penalty just outside the Eastleigh 22. Duly slotted by our Captain Tommy Gentleman, took the score to 0-3.

The tide turned shortly thereafter. A litany of penalties which was to become the theme of the game for Andover IIs saw us back on our 5m line without Eastleigh having to do any meaningful attack. Despite some dogged defence, Eastleigh to their credit were ruthless and determined. Indeed, after a few phases from close out, they managed to crash over – converting the try and taking the score to 3-7 to the home team.

Andover kicked off and chased down with the same intent and physicality, eventually winning a turnover in open play – some good reaction to the turnover ensured we reorganised quickly and there were support runners on hand all the way down the line. Simple draw and pass, straightening of lines to fix the defence, holding depth and some silky hands from front row Elliot Byrne resulted in Dougie Shaw finding space in a wide channel and ghosting through the Eastleigh Defence to place down to the left of the posts. With the conversion from Tommy drifting just wide, the score sat at 7-8 to Andover.

Andover’s indiscipline would come to tell again. After a few phases of defence in midfield, a string of penalties saw Eastleigh with a lineout on our 5m line. Their catch and drive proved very effective and had clearly been well coached and practiced. They crashed over for their 2nd try of the game. Unconverted, the score tipped back in favour of the home side. 8-12.

The message at half time was all about shoring up our discipline. We’d reached a tipping point in terms of numbers of penalties conceded where Andover were getting closely watched in every facet of play. We had to communicate  with each other the things we were getting penalised for and adapt our game play accordingly. 

We started the second half positively. Stringing some good phases together and building momentum down the pitch. Characteristic strong carries from Alex Arter, Jack Luxon-Barnes and James Reeder ensured we had good control of the start of the second half. Working the way up the pitch, we secured a penalty which was tapped and in a mirror image of Eastleigh’s first try, the pressure told after a few phases of try-line defence and Elliot Byrne crashed over in the far corner for Andover’s 2nd try of the game. Converted by Gentleman. The score now 12-15 to Andover. 

More penalties. We were not adapting to the officiating and several players were being penalised for the same offence. This ceded more easy metres to Eastleigh. Who very nearly ran in a try out wide, we’re it not for a super tackle from winger Lennon Coffin, just in front of our try line, barrelling the Eastleigh player into touch. Arguably the moment that saved the match for Andover. We managed to clear our lines and work our way back up the pitch. Andover, having worked into the Eastleigh red-zone once more , secured some penalties but chose to tap and go for the 7 points. This time, the decision didn’t pay off. More dogged scramble defence from Eastleigh eventually saw Andover concede a penalty for holding on to the ball whilst hovering on Eastleigh’s try line. They cleared their lines and kept themselves within 3 points.

The next moment of the game came deep into the second half. Andover had a scrum on Eastleigh's 10m line to the right of the pitch. A well-executed set-piece off the scrum ended with substitute and man of the match Charlie Deavall going on a big arcing run and carving through the Eastleigh Defence,  diving over for a try in the far-left corner. A brilliant conversion by Tommy Gentlman took the score to 12-22. A 10-point cushion and a bit of breathing space.

From the 70th minute. Andover II would see practically nothing else of the ball. More strings of penalties would see us holding on. First,  a kicked penalty brought the score to within 7 points. 15-22.

Andover were resilient up to the last play of the game. Having secured good territory  - a lineout in Eastleigh’s 22, Andover were called for a not-straight throw followed by a penalty from the subsequent set-piece defence. A few penalties conceded later and Andover found themselves back on their 5m line. Again, without Eastleigh having to do any meaningful attack. 55m conceded for the last play of the game. To the home crowd’s elation, Eastleigh capitalised on gifted territory and scored a try to the right of the posts. A determined charge down from Andover was enough to cause the Eastleigh kicker to slice his conversion to the right of the posts. The game finished 20-22 to Andover.

All players and coaches agreed that whilst we were happy to get another win, this very much felt like a loss. This was the most points we’d conceded in a single game this season and every point could be attributed to the strings of penalties we’d gifted to Eastleigh in the build-up to their scores. The post-match debrief centred around how we adapt to officials and we all agreed to work hard on putting it right in training. Focus now turns to our home game against Ventnor where we’re determined to improve and get back to performing convincingly.

An unseasonably bright, yet chilly day greeted Andover II down at Hilsea where we were to play our last competitive match of 2024. Portsmouth II were competitive when they came to the Goodship ground in September, having pushed us close and taking a losing BP – their league position was not a fair indication of how they’d been performing and they were coming in to this game on the back of a good win. We knew we’d be in for a challenge against a youthful and sharp team wanting to carry the momentum. Andover had some catching up to do, having had a less satisfying week of match preparation. 

The first quarter of the match was an even affair. Andover carried hard, kept the ball secure and strung together good phase play. Credit to Portsmouth, they were able to stifle our progress up the pitch with some strong and well organised defence. The deadlock was eventually broken after 20 minutes – scrum-half James Wallace putting the boot to a loose ball, following an effective kick chase, pounced in the right-hand side of the try-scoring area to finish. Unconverted, the score was 0-5.

Another try for Andover II quickly followed. A line break by Alex Arter who linked up beautifully with James Wallace supporting on his shoulder, beat Portsmouth’s cover defence with a slick final pass to winger Lennon Coffin – deservedly dotting down to compliment a strong individual performance of destructive defence, arcing runs and powerful hand-offs. Unconverted to take the score to 0-10.

Andover’s strong carrying would tell again – a number of phases together eventually drew in enough Portsmouth defenders for us to affect another line break in the wide channels to put us back in Portsmouth’s red zone. The subsequent phase play and trust in executing our attacking structure eventually saw James Reeder muscle over from close range to score our 3rd try of the game. Another missed conversion took the score to 0-15.

It was at this moment, 5 minutes before half-time where Portsmouth II started to turn the momentum of the game. They had a very strong set piece and made ground with a well-coached rolling maul. With quick ball recycling, the pressure eventually told when, Portsmouth II broke through our centre channel, exploiting missed tackles and scored under the posts. Half time score was 7-15.

The second half started as the first half had finished – Portsmouth applying relentless pressure, taking momentum from their score at the final play of the first half. Early in the half, they broke through yet more tackles and exploited a weak and disconnected line speed – something that had until this point been Andover IIs strength this season. More missed tackles led to a second score for Portsmouth II. Another successful conversion took the score to 14-15. A fifteen-point lead reduced to 1. 

The game could have gone either way from now. Our Captain, Tommy Gentleman issued a rallying cry under the posts. If we weren’t to let this slip, we needed to take responsibility and turn it around now. And huge credit to every player – they rose to the challenge. It was moments of brilliance that stunted Portsmouth's momentum and turned the story of the game:

Exceptional work rate from young flanker Matty Gaits.

Dominant tackles from Kieron Bush.

Injections of sheer pace from replacement winger Connor Churchill.

Textbook jackals from MotM Scott Kay.

Charlie Deavall – a player with arguably the best power:weight ratio in the league, shunting Portsmouth’s big runners into touch.

Relentless carrying, led by James Reeder, Toby Dixon and VC Alex Arter.

Andover were eventually awarded a kickable penalty in the Portsmouth half. Duly slotted by Tommy Gentleman, it took the score to a slightly more comfortable 14-18. Portsmouth, still very much in the game, pummeled hard at Andover’s defensive line. But by this point, we had shored up our defence, aided by the industrious Billy Pollard with another cameo from retirement, securing several turnovers.

Another period of consistent phase play and slick ball handling led James Reeder crashing over for his 2nd try of the day. This time converted by Tommy and taking the score to 14-25. 

The game and indeed the final play of rugby for 2024 was capped off following another string of phases where we executed our newly introduced attacking structure beautifully. Effective pod work, communication between support runners, well-held depth and running lines saw the ball go through several hands and ending up with Scott Kay who placed the ball down for a well-deserved try. Converted by Tommy Gentleman. The game ended 14-32. We go into the Christmas Break with 9 wins from 9. 

In the new year, we welcome Southampton to the Goodship Ground. We keep on seeking improvement with every game but credit must be given to players who had the opportunity today after working hard at their individual development in training. They stepped up and were a credit to themselves. The strength in depth being developed is something to be proud of and we hope to carry that further in the new year.

Man of the Match (selected by Andover) – Scott Kay

Man of the Match (selected by Portsmouth) – James Reeder