Havant RFC bounce back to winning ways after ‘cracking game’ at Hooks Lane

Jake Reynolds knocked over a late penalty from in front of the posts to edge the home side home.

Senior coach Will Knight praised the resilience of his side in a close-fought contest

'It was a cracking game, a good old- fashioned game of rugby,' said Knight.

'There was little between the two teams who tore into each other for 80 minutes.

'Neither side was prepared to give an inch and the defence was immense from both teams.

'There were some massive hits put in and it is great to come away from a game like this with a win.

'For ten minutes before half-time we played a man short after having Andrea Pozzi sent to the sin bin.

'We had to reshuffle but defended unbelievably well to prevent Medway from scoring.

'Psychologically that was worth as much as scoring ourselves and gave us a huge lift.

'Both teams took turns to put pressure on each other in the second half.

'After we got in front with a penalty we had to batten down the hatches because they threw everything at us.'

Havant made a sensational start by opening the scoring inside two minutes.

Showing great approach play, the hosts moved Medway all over the place.

When the ball reached inside centre, Darren Bamford threw a dummy, handed off a defender and sprinted through to score.

Both teams swapped penalties before Medway fashioned a good try to take a 10-8 lead.

For the rest of the half the two sides cancelled each other out.

The second half was more of the same, though Havant missed a couple of chances by knocking the ball on in good positions.

With 10 minutes remaining, Reynolds kicked the crucial penalty.

Twice in the final minutes Havant held their breath as Medway penalty attempts drifted wide.

'There was a real ebb and flow to the game,' said Knight.

'In the end we had just enough to get over the line.

'I am sure that at the end of the season we will look back on this as one of our best results.

‘It was massively important for us to bounce back after losing for the first time last weekend.'

Havant are now third, three points behind unbeaten leaders Camberley.