Winchester 9, Norwich 16

A GOOD final quarter of play from Winchester was not enough to turn the game in their favour as Norwich took the honours at Nuns Road last Saturday.

It was an hour before Winchester showed what they were capable of, and they won't often be able to afford sides this type of generosity.

Norwich were delighted with their performance, but the home team will know that had they produced a display half as good as their last home match the visitors would have been comprehensively beaten.

There is no doubt that this Winchester team, when it clicks, can play some outstanding rugby. But in this match they lost the ball time and again in contact and, with possession usually equalling points, this seriously dented their chances of winning.

The loss of captain Richard Knight in the first half with injured ribs did not help the home side's cause, and they missed his aggressive tackling and leadership.

Winchester had chosen to play with the stiff breeze in the first half, hoping to rack up an unsurpassable lead. But as the whistle for half time sounded, only a measly six points had been registered with two well struck penalties from Andy Ashwin. The forwards struggled to provide a platform for scrum half Nick Destefano, who received little quality ball, and in turn the back line struggled to build up any real momentum.

Norwich recorded two of their own penalties in the half, one of which was gift wrapped as Winchester chose to run the ball from behind their own try line and paid the price for such exuberance. The visitors looked dangerous in the backs and full back Simon Farrington did well to snuff out the threat with some text book tackling before he too left the field through injury.

Seconds before the break, the home side rubbed more salt into their own wounds by choosing to run a quick tap penalty instead of taking the three points that were on offer.

The killer blow was delivered by Norwich just after half time when Winchester allowed the visitors to peel off a maul and race down the blindside where any defensive cover had seemingly disintegrated.

Ashwin kicked a penalty just after the hour to reduce the deficit to 16-9 and Winchester at last played the type of rugby that they are capable of.

Adi Mort and Campbell Ettinger made inroads as they bulldozed up the field, while Ricky Taylor and Rolf Stratford put in a terrific amount of work to give Destefano a constant supply of ball. The crowd became increasingly animated as the home side camped themselves on the visitors' line, but Norwich defended outstandingly.

Two line-outs saw Richard Fraser rise high and the pack try to hammer their way over; but as they huffed and puffed the house of Norwich refused to fall down. Ashwin later sniffed a chance and drifted to the blind side. If the ball had been a second quicker, wing Simon Jones would have been put over by his fly half. As it was, Ashwin was forced to go himself and a crunching tackle by two players saw the ball lost forward and the chance vanish.

Coach Mike Marchant provided a rueful comment: "Another game has got away and we are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves early in the season," he said.

Winchester: Farrington (Chappelle), Jones, Banks, West, Ryan, Ashwin, Destefano, Dorling, Taylor, Mort, Showell, Ettinger, Miller, Fraser, Knight (Stratford). Sub not used: Britton.