Alton 38pts, Fordingbridge 7pts

THIS was an afternoon dominated by the weather as a strong wind and heavy rain swept across Anstey Park continuously from the first to the last whistle.

Both teams can take credit from their efforts to play quality rugby in such grim conditions – but it was Alton who made it eight wins in a row atop the Hampshire Premier.

From the kick-off both teams tried running the ball but with the inevitable knock-ons because of the greasy ball the game was played mainly either side of the halfway line.

On 20 minutes Alton were awarded a scrum some ten metres out, and a well-controlled heel by hooker Luke Parratt was held at the back as the Silverbacks drove forward to give No8 Ed Pasfield his first try of the afternoon. Joe Gwyther added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Ten minutes later the scenario was repeated, Pasfield collecting his second try, which went unconverted, as Alton increased their lead to 12-0, and a good handling move was finished off by prop Alex Hankins to push the lead to 17-0.

Fordingbridge had the final say in the first half when they put pressure on the home defence, which eventually conceded a penalty. The visitors took it quickly and scored through centre Matthew Norton, who converted his own try to cut the gap to 17-7.

Six minutes into the second period, Fordingbridge had a scrummage close to their own line. Alton drove them back, the scrum was reset, this time with an Alton put in. The ball was picked up, but the carrier was held up over the line. Yet another scrummage, and another drive, saw Pasfield score his third try of the day. Gwyther converted and the Silverbacks had another try bonus point to go with their 24-7 lead.

Unsurprisingly, given the worsening weather conditions, the match was peppered with mistakes by both sides and became bogged down for the next 20 minutes.

Eventually, though, the Silverbacks managed to secure the ball and good interchange between forwards and backs eventually put Ollie Burden in under the posts, with Gwyther collecting the extras to pad Alton’s lead at 31-7.

Almost inevitably, Passfield finished off the scoring with his fourth try on the final whistle, and Gwyther took his conversions tally to four on a difficult day for kicking.

On Saturday, the Silverbacks were to visit Ellingham and Ringwood for a Hampshire Plate match, but as the teams are scheduled for a league fixture, at the same venue on November 23, this will be played as a league and cup double header on that day.

The Silverbacks are next in league action on November 9 when they are away to Havant seconds.