Petersfield XV 0 Royal Navy President’s XV 27: FOLLOWING the success of last year’s inaugural match, the Royal Navy once again agreed to meet Petersfield in an evening charity match.

Like last year, Field lost the hard-fought match, on this occasion failing to register a score of their own.

Petersfield’s senior players turned out in force for the game from across all of the club’s three teams. Coach Alder started the match with perhaps his strongest side, calling on mostly first team regulars who may possibly take the club to promotion this season.

While the territory and possession count in the first half may have been in favour of the Navy, they didn’t have it all their own way.

Field stood firm until halfway through the first quarter when a shrill blast on the referee’s whistle through the blanketing fog announced that the Navy had scored. The conditions made kicking a complete lottery and the conversion disappeared into the night without troubling the uprights.

The Navy led 5-0 at half time, a far cry from the 31-0 scoreline of the 2016 fixture.

Field rang the changes throughout the second half to give all of the volunteers a run out and while the side benefitted from a constant supply of fresher legs, the changes had an effect on the consistency of their play.

Again, the Navy did not have things all their own way but when they got the chances they finished them clinically and racked up a further four tries, one of which was converted.

Any disappointment at the result was swiftly cancelled out by the success of the evening’s fundraising. In total, £2,200 was raised for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and town mayor James Deane’s chosen charity, Dementia Friendly Petersfield.

There was a packed programme for the evening ahead of the main match, starting with supper in the clubhouse. Those unable to secure a ticket for the supper were well catered for with a barbecue, bar and refreshments from the club cafe.

In the clubhouse after the match, club secretary, Rob Mocatta, presented a cheque for the two charities to the representatives from the Navy and James Deane.

However, in an act of true generosity, the Navy promptly donated their portion of the monies to the mayor’s Dementia Friendly charity, citing the fact that they had benefitted from all of the monies raised in the first match in 2016.