Winchester hand out Plate licking

Portsmouth U14 12, Winchester U14 24

Winchester Under 14s were certainly focused when they took to the field against Portsmouth on Sunday, each and every player determined to bring the Plate back to Winchester.

Skipper Jack O'Connell, playing in his last game for the club before a move to Louisiana, was again an inspiration to those around him. A pivotal player in the back row, O'Connell was always first to the breakdown, recycling quality ball for the backs. It was turnover ball that allowed Will Driscoll to free fellow centre Michael Wilkinson, who sped through a despairing defence to touch down. Pat Cheshire added the conversion to take Winchester to 7-0.

The Winchester front five continued to dominate, repeatedly pinching the Portsmouth feed at the scrums and it was yet another strike against the head close in that released the Winchester back row. Flanker Rob Arthur crashed through a crowd of defenders to make it 14-0 with Cheshire's conversion.

Portsmouth were reeling but came out strongly in the second half, using the wind advantage to pin Winchester deep into their own half.

An early Portmouth try reduced the deficit to 14-7 and, with Winchester temporarily out of sorts, seized on a loose ball to score near the posts. But their failure to convert allowed Winchester to keep their noses in front at 14-12.

Winchester fly-half Todd Duncan continued to establish field position close to the Portsmouth line. The forwards drove time and time again at the stubborn Portsmouth defence, but when Olly Taylor broke from a maul close to the Portsmouth line he was unstoppable, taking Winchester to 19-12.

Portsmouth were under the cosh and their self-discipline was in shreds.

A penalty awarded to Winchester under the Portsmouth posts, looked kickable, but the live-wire Cheshire tapped and ran. Rob Arthur was on his shoulder and accepted a cleverly slipped pass to crash over for his second try. Winchester, now 24-12 ahead, shuffled their shape in the closing stages as replacements took to the stage.

After the final whistle, it was literally a champagne moment as Jack O'Connell popped a bottle of bubbly and soaked his team mates.