Holders through to final

Gosport & Fareham 15pts v Basingstoke 33pts

The current Holders of the Hampshire Caffrey Cup, Basingstoke fought their way through to another final away to Havant on Sunday 24th March.

Stoke did not play anyway near to their best form and the class act of full-back Chris Norton was the shining difference between the two sides.
Before the kick-off a late decision that Tom Dean's knee was to bad to start the game saw Ian Calder move to the unfamiliar spot of No 9 with Neal Taylor taking over the No 10 position. The game started brightly for the visitors and they soon went ahead through a simple penalty by Ian Calder. Gosport playing with a lot of spirit came back into the game and from a slick three-quarter move put their right winger Paul Middleton over in the corner for a well deserved try. Basingstoke trying to play the rugby but not showing any fluency came back and from one of their few good moves saw Norton come scything through to score under the posts, Calder kicking the conversion. It was hoped that Stoke's superior play would pull them ahead but this was not to be and on the stroke of half-time, David Lloyd kicked a penalty to reduce the lead to 10-8.

The second-half continued with Stoke trying to play the rugby but Gosport countering well. Three minutes into the half Ian Calder put some daylight between the sides with a penalty and then four minutes later another searing break by Chris Norton which resulted in a try, converted by Calder stretched the lead to 20-8. But to their credit the home side came back and their strong set of forwards set up a try for No 9 Jamie Daly converted by Middleton. But there was to be no shock in store as Basingstoke worked their way into the Gosport half and two penalties by Calder eased the anxiety and then another massive break by Norton resulted in a penalty try, converted by Calder to bring his personal tally to eighteen points and another Havant v Basingstoke final.

NEXT GAME Saturday 9th March, home to Cheshunt London Div 1 ko 3:00 pm

link to RFU site