Basingstoke retain the Hampshire Cup with a thrilling 16-15 win over arch-rivals Havant on Sunday.

Havant 15pts v Basingstoke 16pts

Sunday's afternoon's triumph means 'Stoke have now retained the cup for the second year running. The latest victory for the FX-backed side have won the county crown nine times in the last 13 years. The dramatic win was achieved despite a nail-biting finale with Havant missing a drop goal attempt which would have snatched victory.

As he celebrated another famous victory jubilant 'Stoke coach Ian Calder said: "We played most of the rugby during the game and deserved, once more, to put our name on this cup. Somehow we went in at half-time 9-6 down but put it right in the second-half".
Despite all their pressure in the opening half, Basingstoke only had two Calder penalties to show for it. The homeside had Steve Claffey to thank for a hat-trick of penalty kicks and he added another after the break. Calder once more replied to make it 12-9 with 30 minutes to go. The visitors then got the try they deserved as Calder and Tom Dean combined to put Neal Taylor over, Calder kicking the conversion to make the score 16-12. Claffey soon reduced the arrears to set the stage for a nervous finish. Stoke should have increased their lead, but it was down to Havant full-back Anton Petzer to miss with the last kick of the match.

'NEXT GAME Saturday 6th April away to Winchester, London Div 1 ko 3.00pm.

link to RFU site