Branston leaves Chineham in a pickle

Southsea Nomads completed a hat-trick of wins against Chineham with a 26-8 success in their rearranged Hampshire two game at May's Bounty in Basingstoke on Saturday.
Jonathan Branston. Picture: Neil Marshall (171329-170)Jonathan Branston. Picture: Neil Marshall (171329-170)
Jonathan Branston. Picture: Neil Marshall (171329-170)

The visitors had to overcome awful weather and a boggy pitch to return to winning ways.

And they did just that – with Jonathan Branston leading the way as he notched 21 points, including one of the two Nomads tries.

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Ben Horrod praised the performance of his troops in difficult conditions.

‘The lads put in a great performance in conditions that didn’t suit our style of rugby,’ said the skipper.

‘We came out strongly in the first half and put Chineham on the back foot.

‘In the second half we defended for long periods and kept Chineham out.’

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The Southsea outfit started the game strongly – playing down the slope – and set the tone early on.

In their first visit to Chineham’s twenty-two, Branston kicked a penalty.

The Nomads player then added a second soon afterwards.

Horrod’s side were in the ascendency and – following a turn-over scrum – the ball was worked out to Branston who raced in for the opening try, which he converted himself.

The visitors continued to dominate in both attack and defence.

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They added a second try from Chris Hall before Branston completed an excellent first half with the conversion and another penalty to give his side a 23-3 lead at the break.

While Chineham hit back with a try early in the second half, Nomads showed great defence.

Branston then completed the scoring with a final penalty – taking his personal tally to 21 points.

Elsewhere, Locks Heath Pumas got back to winning ways by beating Aldershot & Fleet by 40-14 at Brookfield School.

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