PETERSFIELD Rugby Club head coach James Alder praised his side after their 25-13 win against Farnborough in the Hampshire Plate final on Sunday afternoon.
The win secured the league and cup double, and Alder was pleased with his side’s ability to adapt after the early loss of captain Dan Luff.
Alder said: “You don’t plan to lose a player within seconds of the kick-off, so to have our inspirational captain and best tighthead prop, Dan Luff, side-lined so early meant that all of the team had to step up to overcome the loss.
“We are fortunate to have a number of leaders in the team but our vice-captain, Toby Sydenham, stepped up to the plate to fill Dan’s big shoes and put in a man-of-the-match performance.
“Farnborough brought a big team and obviously wanted to dominate us up front. As a consequence, we did not have the solid scrum platform that we have enjoyed in most games this season and the backs were required to operate more on the back foot than we would have liked. However, when the chance came to break we showed what we could do and we scored some wonderful tries with soft hands and lightning pace.”