If there was ever an argument for summer rugby Storm Darragh provided it on Saturday. Simply walking across the pitch from the dug out to the main stand at the end of the game was not a pleasant experience so strong was the wind and so relentless the rain. Hats off then to the players from both sides who spent close on ninety minutes in those atrocious conditions. Players who had been replaced did not find it easy to keep warm and all thirty six would have been relieved when referee Craig Johnson blew the final whistle. How different it was upstairs in the Wickens Suite pre game with 150 people seated for the first of the Christmas lunches. Warm, comfortable and convivial, everything it wasn't for the players during the match. But what of the outcome, a hard fought and well deserved win for Blues and with Chichester losing, Blues move up one place to ninth in the league.

Playing into the strong wind in the first half, Blues would have been delighted to have gone into half time 17-3 ahead. The message from skipper Dan Thorne during the interval was that the game was far from being won simply because of that lead and playing with the strong wind in the second half. Great advice to his team and how prescient with Petersfield winning the second half 12-6. Who says playing into the wind is a disadvantage.

Petersfield started quickly, were three points up within five minutes of the first whistle and were exerting significant pressure on Blues. Early defensive work kept out the visitors and a relieving run out of defence by Jamie Futcher resulted in an offside penalty for Blues. Against the wind Tom Cole put in a superb kick to the corner and whilst lineouts can be a bit of a lottery in poor weather, Blues forwards safely secured this attacking lineout and after a few rumbles Harry Edwards went over for the first try of the match, courtesy of some well organised maul driving by the forwards, to put Blues in the lead 5-3. Petersfield came back strongly but resolute defence held them out and Blues made their way upfield by running the ball out of defence. And then a case of deja vu. A kick to touch by Tom Cole to give Blues another attacking lineout, ball secured and the forwards again rumbled towards the visitor's line resulting in Josh Winfield touching down just before the half hour mark. Blues were tactically on it and were playing the conditions exceptionally well. They were giving Petersfield little opportunity to get into the game and the work of Man of the Match Kyle Doel was outstanding. Interestingly when one of the front row was replaced, he came off saying that GRS was beginning to get the better of his opposite number and with the power of Duncan Craigen and Kyle the scrum steadied significantly as the game wore on. With half time approaching Blues scored their third try, a fine effort by Rory Jones who powered over close in. The successful conversion by Dan Thorne made the half time score 17-3 to Blues and a sense of optimism amongst the home support.

Petersfield came out for the second half with a strong sense of purpose and employed the same tactics Blues had done in the first half. All of a sudden the visitors looked dangerous with ball in hand, almost scoring through their forwards but Blues strong defence kept them out for the first ten minutes of the second half. The pressure eventually told however and Petersfield scored their first try, moving the ball wide when Blues defence was slightly too narrow, to take the score to 17-8. The back row of Harry Edwards, Rory Jones and Josh Winfield were dominating a lot of the collisions and Alec McCormack made a significant impact from the bench when he came on mid way through the half. Soon after, Blues extended their lead to 20-8 when Dan Thorne kicked a penalty. This gave Blues some breathing space but there was to be no complacency and rightly so as Petersfield scored their second try with a strong run through the middle accompanied by what Blues would have seen as disappointing tackling. At 20-15 the game was in the balance but very good game management by Blues saw them win two kickable penalties.
The first of these hit the upright which kept the pressure on Petersfield and they were forced to concede a five metre scrum. From this position Blues secured the ball and as they moved it wide Petersfield deliberately knocked on and this time Dan Thorne was successful with the kick to take the score to 23-15. As the final whistle approached Petersfield came back at Blues, and almost scored but knocked on in a very promising position close to Blues posts. Soon after the final whistle sounded and Blues had secured a much needed win.

As the players moved inside for a well earned shower and a warm up the Soultones started their set in Kickers Bar, accompanied by some very dodgy dad dancing by a number of our mini and junior coaches! Great atmosphere though as there was all afternoon and there is no better place to be than a bouncing Monks Lane. Many thanks to sponsors and everyone who turned up to support in the dreadful weather conditions. Thanks also to Petersfield who battled to the end and we wish you all the best for the rest of the season. It is highly likely the conditions will be better for our return match in March for both sides to play a more expansive game. There is a lot of rugby to be played before then and next week Blues travel to Wimborne. As always, for those not planning to travel west, Stags are home to Hungerford and Louise and her team are preparing a Christmas lunch for supporters of both sides. Please do contact the club to book a place at lunch but at the very least come along and support Stags, a great bunch of lads, who are always appreciative of the support.