Chobham fell to a 30-15 defeat at Petersfield in Regional Two South Central.

Chobham kicked off playing into the sun. A good first defensive set saw possession gained and phases put together, but there was no ascendancy for either side.

Then, after four minutes, from a scrum on the Chobham ten-metre line, winger Noah Jenkins broke through some weak midfield defence and weaved his way powerfully to the Petersfield 22. The scrambling Petersfield defence couldn't stay legal and Guy Mawhood kicked the resulting penalty deep into the red zone. With the lineout won, a couple of forward carries opened up an inviting short side and Mawhood floated a 30-metre pass to Jenkins on the left-hand touchline for him to stroll in for the first try of the day. Mawhood couldn't convert but the visitors led 5-0.

A sloppy kick off gave Chobham another attacking scrum on halfway and after some scrappy possession for both sides, another breakdown penalty gave Chobham a lineout in the Petersfield 22. Petersfield's lineout defence was strong, and possession was lost.

Petersfield centre Miles Sampson found himself in space, and as full back Ben Temperley came across to make the tackle, an attempted hand off ended up being an unintentional strike to the face and Sampson saw yellow. The resulting penalty was kicked deep but the lineout was lost.

After a further period of sustained pressure from Chobham, some good attacking play from centre Danny Watson gave Temperley the opportunity to thread a neat kick to the Petersfield try line and force a goal line drop out. Petersfield infringed again at the breakdown and Mawhood slotted the penalty from in front of the posts to take the scoreline after 13 minutes to 8-0 to Chobham.

An unforced Chobham error and a deft nudge from Petersfield scrum half Dan Chinnock gave Petersfield a prime attacking lineout in the Chobham 22. With the throw adjudged not straight Chobham survived, but a fumble in midfield from Jake Edwards gave possession back to Petersfield and in the 27th minute full back Joe Knowles went over for a try he converted from out wide.

Petersfield scored their second try when a scrum in front of the posts led to Seb Tuff scoring on the left-hand side. Knowles converted to put Petersfield 14-8 ahead.

The hosts then scored their third try when Eddie Matthews went over on the right-hand side to make it 19-8.

Petersfield then coughed up possession and Greg Jansen received a yellow card for a high tackle. Watson drilled the ball deep into the Petersfield 22 and accurate tight play saw second row Sam Goddard power over for a try converted by Mawhood to make the half-time score 19-15.

Chobham started the second half strongly, with metres made in midfield by Watson, Dan Benton and Goddard.

A breakdown penalty then allowed Petersfield to increase their lead to 22-15 against the run of play.

Possession was exchanged between the sides before, on 57 minutes, Petersfield skipper Matt McLean nudged a clever crossfield kick into the hands of Matthews, who made no mistake in putting Sampson away for an unopposed run in for a try in the right-hand corner to make it 27-15.

A sustained period of well-worked Petersfield attacking play followed with the Chobham defence stretched, and Knowles kicked a penalty to make it 30-15.

By Jonathan Williamson