Petersfield 3rd XV 15 Eastleigh 3rd XV 12: PETERSFIELD’S third team entertained Eastleigh’s third team on Saturday.

With the teams fairly even at the break, Field stepped up the pressure in the second half, spending most of the time in Eastleigh’s half but failing to put together a clean enough move to convert this in to points.

Finally, though, Alex Groves – one of two players on loan from the second team – was put into space on the right wing and he scooted over and around the in-goal area to score near the posts. The conversion was missed, keeping the two sides evenly matched.

Obviously stung by this, Eastleigh fought back manfully and went up the field from the restart to score and take the lead.

It was now Field’s turn to avoid a panicked response and they returned to the game plan that had kept them in their opponents half for so long. With the clock ticking down to the final whistle a scrappy passage of play saw the ball squirrel out to Groves, again on the right wing. Groves juggled the ball to get it under control before racing down the wing for the winning score in the corner.

The result brings a four-game losing streak to an end and sets Field up nicely for two friendly home fixtures in February – against Worthing and Alton respectively – before they return to league action at the start of March.