Portsmouth beaten by Andover after losing early advantage

The city club started well taking the lead after only seven minutes through an Anthony Fookes try converted by Andy Barnes.

A Barnes penalty and a second try from Curtis Barnes extended the visitors lead to 15-0 after seventeen minutes.

From that point however it was the home side who took charge starting with two unconverted tries before the break.

In the second half the home side added thirteen points without reply.

‘Once again we were guilty of under performing,’ said assistant coach Jim Pearce.

‘After twenty minutes there was a shift in momentum and Andover were in the ascendancy from that point.

‘They had a very good scrummage and sapped the life out of us up front.

‘Last season we were in the same position of losing our opening three games so we know that we can get out of it.

‘We just need to get the first win under our belts and take it from there.’

In London three south west United Services Portsmouth suffered a disappointing 39-21 defeat against Trojans at Burnaby Road.

Director of rugby Matt Davis blamed Services defeat on lapses of concentration.

‘We didn’t play that badly but ended up conceding seven tries,’ said Davis.

‘It was disappointing because we went into the game with confidence and high hopes of a win.

‘We had a lot of possession but just didn’t turn it into points.

‘Trojans caught us napping on a few occasions and towards the end we found ourselves chasing the game.’

Liam Geoghan and Henry Young scored the home sides tries.

Southsea Nomads made a winning start to their Hampshire two campaign with a 46-5 win at Kingsclere.

Visiting captain Ben Horrod led by example with a hat-trick of tries.

Aaron Beesley and Josh Soper both grabbed a brace each.

Jonathan Branston and Horrod each kicked two conversions.

Head coach Mike Westall was delighted with the performance from his side as they impressed with a fine overall display.

He said : I am extremely happy because it is clearly evident that all the hard work put in during the summer is paying off.

‘We cannot afford to rest on our laurels though because there is plenty of work still to do.’