Andover II 14pts Portsmouth II 29pts

FOR the second week in succession HSA sponsored Andover's London League Three (SW) fixture fell foul of the weather.

It was a bitter blow for the town club who now go into the Christmas break knowing that by the time they play the re-arranged game against Warlingham at Foxcotte Park on 6 January they will have had almost a month without a game.

High-flying Portsmouth called off last Saturday's game on Thursday stating that their pitch was still waterlogged, leaving Andover with no time to re-arrange another game.

However, it became clear at the weekend that even though they may have had pitch problems, the South Coast club may also have been a bit below strength and did not fancy taking on an in-form Andover.

When Portsmouth 3rd XV cancelled their fixture at Foxcotte Park at lunchtime on Saturday and their 2nd XV arrived bolstered by several of their 1st XV squad it appeared Portsmouth may have been in some difficulty.

With Andover Veterans XV also losing their fixture at Eastleigh to the weather, it was left to Andover's second string to provide the only entertainment of the day.

With most of the club turning out to watch the game, unlike the visitors Andover chose to stick with their selected side but from the start it became clear that this Portsmouth side was entirely different from the one Andover gained a fine draw against only four weeks ago.

They were bigger, stronger, faster and much better drilled than last time with only a few familiar faces on show. That said Andover still should have done better.

The home team started badly, particularly up front, as Portsmouth were much quicker out of the blocks. Missed tackles and a general lack of concentration led to three early tries for the visitors and left Andover with an uphill task.

Chris Reilly kicked a penalty and for a long spell, despite playing up the slope, Andover pressed forward. Then on the stroke of half time disaster struck, Andover conceding a further soft try from a breakaway and Portsmouth looked out of sight.

In the second half Andover did much better. They took control in the scrum and, using a short driving game, pinned Portsmouth back. Young prop Adie Furness replaced Jim Brighty and soon used his pace and strength to good effect, crashing over for a try converted by Reilly.

Andover poured forward and, with Simon Rowe coming on to play in the back row and James Hebbert back to his familiar spot in the second row, Andover had too much pace for Portsmouth up front.

How disappointing then that, despite their efforts, yet another soft try was to prove their undoing. Poor open defence after a Portsmouth scrum gave the visitors the chance they needed and Andover were never able to make up the deficit.

The introduction of the powerful Lawrence Leask at prop further however enhanced the Andover forward effort as he gave the Portsmouth forwards a torrid time for the last quarter of the game.

Andover finished the far stronger and when Reilly pierced the visitors' defence for a splendid individual try, which he also improved, Andover were left to rue what might have been.

Afterwards skipper Alex Killick was in a reflective mood. "In hindsight it was a big task for our back row early on and we certainly need to hard up in the forwards," he said.

Killick however was upbeat about the performance of the town club's youngsters. "Hooker Lee O'Keefe did superbly, as did the other young lads and the impact of Adie Furness was incredible."

Andover 2nd XV: Brighty (J), O'Keefe (L), Borg-Neal; Houghton, Dowling; Killick (capt), Tait, Hebbert; Mitchell (G), Waite; Vowles, Simmonds, O'Keefe (S), Piper; Reilly. Replacements: Furness, Morris, Leask, Rowe (S).