Petersfield 22 Alton 25: ALTON claimed the bragging rights in this local derby, knocking Petersfield off the top of the table for the first time this season.

The visitors were superior in possession and territory in winning the first 40 minutes, although Petersfield turned the tables to win the second half but not the match.

Field gathered Alton’s kick-off but almost immediately began to lose their shape with some aimless sideways runs which allowed the Alton defence time to gather and prevented the home side from getting into their stride.

With barely a minute on the clock, Alton punished a loose punt up field by the home side, swinging the ball wide to their left where missed tackles set them up with an overlap and a score in the corner. The conversion from tight on the touchline was well taken in wet but calm conditions.

Alton continued to press, stealing yards beyond the gain-line thanks to the aggression of their runners and the passivity of Field’s tackling.

On eight minutes, Alton missed a penalty kick from a much kinder position than their earlier conversion, allowing Field to breathe again and restart with a 22.

A couple of minutes later, Alton were once again rampaging down their left for an almost carbon copy score to their first. Again, the tricky conversion was nailed.

Halfway through the second quarter, Alton’s defence was penalised in their 22. Stand-off Nick Blumlein took a quick tap to darting scrum-half Ethan Ogilive, who was checked by the slowly retreating defence to concede another penalty.

Field didn’t need it, however, as Ogilvie passed to Tom Land on the Field right wing. A quick ball inside to the man who had started the move saw Blumlein cross for Field’s only try of the first half.

Blumlein’s conversion was just shy of the right-hand post. However, his next attempt – a penalty at the end of the half – was not lacking and Field went in at the break trailing 17-8.

Field kicked off the second half with 14 men – courtesy of a Tom Whitehouse sin-binning five minutes before the end of the first – but it wasn’t noticeable.

Land set off on a run down his right wing which took play into the Alton 22. Field set up a quick ruck to secure the ball, which was sent to Zak Jenkins.

He popped a pass to Nic Wilde, who placed the ball in the hands of Kieran Gericke. Two steps saw the inside centre cross under the posts, making Blumlein’s conversion a formality.

The next scores came in the final ten minutes of the game.

Having withstood a battering in defence in the second half, Alton executed clinically during their infrequent visits to Field’s half. First was a penalty to take them to 20 points, and then a sustained period in Field’s 22 resulted in a further try, which was unconverted.

Restarting with seconds left, Field bullied their way back into possession before sending Jordan Hunter free to crash over on the left.

Blumlein’s testing conversion gave his side parity in terms of tries and conversions, but Field were out of time and the difference came down to that second half penalty.