At home for the first time this season in Counties 1 Hampshire Ellingham & Ringwood took on Basingstoke. The club has never been in same league as Basingstoke which meant the two side knew little about each other.
Ellingham started well with a promising five-minute period of possession where they worked through the phases, retaining possession well, and this culminated in a penalty in front of the posts. Chris Frost converted.
Basingstoke came back well from the re-start and kept Ellingham camped at the new Specsavers End for a protracted period. Finally, Ellingham broke free and moved up the field to win a penalty. This time the side kicked for the corner and Adam Payne crashed over from the subsequent catch and drive.
Basingstoke then demonstrated their own strength scoring the next two tries through virtually identical mauls from lineouts in Ellingham’s 22.
In the second half the contest remained finely balanced with both sides trying to attack in the autumn sunshine. Ellingham scored a further try through No. 8 Lewis Nicholl, but Basingstoke held the lead with barely 10 minutes left on the clock.
Chris Frost kicked a vital penalty at the Specsavers End to level the scores at 19 apiece. Soon after Ellingham’s backs created space out wide for man of the match Hugo Leigh-Watts (pictured). Despite Basingstoke’s defensive efforts Hugo used his power to score in front of the home crowd.
Another penalty a few minutes later built an 8 point. Basingstoke were forced to chase the game and a good transition from an error yielded a second try for front row Payne – this time out on the wing!
Final score Ellingham & Ringwood 32 – Basingstoke 19.