CHINEHAM 0, ALTON 52

THIS was meant to be Chineham’s home fixture, but due to the poor pitch conditions in Basingstoke, the Hampshire 2 match was switched to The Reservation at Bordon.

And it proved a prudent move, with the floodlights proving their worth in a second half extended by injury breaks.

A greatly revitalised Alton dominated the bottom-of-the-table match and recorded a much-needed victory.

Last week, against Aldershot & Fleet, Alton had conceded an interception try in the first minute.

This game began in the same manner, but this time to Alton’s advantage as winger Fran Williams raced half the length of the park to leave stand-off Joe Gwyther with the easiest of conversions.

Six minutes later, second row Chris Gregory collected a pass on the 22 and bulldozed his way over below the posts, Gwyther again adding the extras.

Alton, growing in confidence, played expansive rugby and scored tries at regular intervals. Cameron Wickes, Fran Williams again, and Alistair Dow all touched down before half-time, while Gwyther missed only one conversion.

Leading 33-0, Alton looked hungry for more points in the second half. Gwyther helped himself to a try after just three minutes, dribbling the ball some 50 metres to give himself another simple conversion.

Scrum-half Ed Thomas scored probably the best try of the afternoon when he broke through from a lineout, evading several tackles to stretch the advantage to 45-0.

Despite some determined efforts by Chineham, the Alton defence held firm and winger Ken Steel, who was heavily involved all afternoon, was rewarded with a try of his own on 68 minutes, Gwyther converting for the final points of the day (final score 52-0, although the official RFU website incorrectly showed 58-0).

Despite this big win, Alton remain second from bottom, two points adrift of Southsea Nomads who recorded a surprise 27-10 win against second-placed Locksheath Pumas.

Alton are next in league action on Saturday, January 6 when they visit Southampton.