Rugby: Bognor beat Alresford to move into top two

Bognor's Pat Gains - pictured scoring against Fareham - was start man as Alresford were beaten / Picture by Kate Shemilt

Bognor welcomed fourth-placed Alresford to Hampshire Avenue for the first time and, after a closely-contested game, the home side emerged winners by three tries to nil, 15-0 the final score.

The visitors proved worthy opponents and their forwards were particularly strong in the Hampshire League division one match, enjoying overall dominance in the scrums and disrupting Bognor’s lineouts on several occasions.

The result, together with Millbrook’s defeat at Ellingham and Ringwood, means Bognor move into second place, just two points behind US Portsmouth.

Regular fly-half Dave Sweeney was unavailable and, with training injuries to Josh Riggall and Jack Hornibrook, it was a much-changed backline on view, including Sam Newcombe’s debut at ten.

Alresford’s strength up front was evident from the start and Bognor looked rusty and off the pace. Fortunately, the visitors’ backs never really looked dangerous and Bognor’s well-marshalled defence managed to keep them quiet without too much difficulty.

In contrast, and despite a lack of clean possession, the home backs threatened to break through whenever they got the ball. Bognor’s superior pace seemed likely to be decisive and so it proved, Chris Clare smashing through the full-back after a fine break by full-back Pat Gains.

The half-time talk centred around improving the set-pieces and generally upping what had been a mediocre effort so far. However, a knee injury to Riley Shute and a serious leg injury to Tom James meant more adjustments had to be made.