‘Frustrating’ for head coach Knight as Havant lose narrowly at London & SE Premier table-toppers Wimbledon

The visitors scored three tries but eventually went down 21-19 to suffer a second defeat in six games following promotion from London 1 at the end of 2019/20.

‘It was a really, really tight game, a good game for the neutral,’ reported Havant head coach Will Knight. ‘It was a good quality game of very fine margins.

‘They scored some good tries, we scored some good tries. It just came down to a couple of missed opportunities in the end.’

After a tight start, Wimbledon broke the deadlock in the 26th minute and led 10-0 with a second unconverted try.

Havant hit back with a Joe Moore try but trailed 13-5 at the interval.

Joel Knight grabbed a second score for the visitors, brother Jacob Knight converting to slash the deficit to just a point.

Wimbledon moved into a 21-12 lead with an unconverted try and penalty, but Ben Holt set up a tense finale with a 67th minute try - Jacob Knight again adding the extras.

‘It was a very frustrating afternoon,’ Will Knight added. ‘A lot of good things came out of it - we came away thinking we could have won. They’re a good team, we know that, they’re not top by luck.

‘It was a marker of where we’re at, and it’s a mark that we were disappointed at losing. There was no jubilation because we got within two points of the leaders - we felt we were capable of beating them.

‘For significant sections of the game, we were dominant.’

Next up for Havant is a home clash next Saturday with second-placed Dorking.

The Surrey side, who have a game in hand on Wimbledon, boast the only 100 per cent record left in the division and at the weekend hammered CS Stags 71-0.

‘That will be an equally tough game, if not tougher,’ said the head coach.

‘But that’s why the players are putting in the work they’re putting in. That’s why the club has aspirations of playing as high as we can.

‘This is a very competitive league, with good depth. In London 1 South there were games where you thought you would win, but this year it’s much more difficult to predict.’

Havant will again put their superb home record on the line against Dorking. The club have won their last 19 home league games at Hooks Lane, since a 28-19 defeat to Chichester in January 2018.

Knight is hoping another bumper crowd will turn out for an attractive fixture, after the opening home game of this season against Sidcup was watched by around 800.

‘It’s a bit of a fortress but we don’t take anything for granted,’ he stated. ‘The record will stand until it doesn’t stand.

‘We get unbelievable support, and it’s great for the players to play in front of. It’s phenomenal and it’s noticeable.

‘We had about 300 the other week watching the 2nds play, so there’s an appetite for it.

‘I’d say there was about 250 at Wimbledon, which is good for this league, but some grounds you can count the crowd in the tens rather than the hundreds.

‘Nobody’s had the support we get so far.’