In a game that ebbed and flowed on a sun drenched but windswept Garenne Stand pitch at Footes Lane, St Jacques trailed by three for the last 18 minutes of the game and got themselves within range of the try line on two or three occasions, but could not find the cutting edge when they really needed it.
Credit must go, too, to the well-drilled Gosport & Fareham defence and the visitors could also boast the best player on the park in fly-half Joseph Brockhurst, whose awareness and execution was outstanding, but Vikings gave their opposition a helping hand at times which proved pivotal in the outcome of a hard-fought contest.
Playing with the wind at their backs in the first half, ‘Gos’ opened the scoring on 6 minutes through prop Dan O’Donoghue when he powered over from close range and Brockhurst added the extras.
The sides exchanged successful penalty kicks during the next quarter of an hour before Vikings, who were growing into the game, got back on level terms with a Mitchell Smith try after both he and Will Forbes-Lee had initially instigated the attack with fine offloading and support play.
Just after the half-hour, Brockhurst showed he had a good turn of pace in his skill set as he gathered the loose ball from a teammate’s attempted offload and galloped from his own 10m line to score and convert his own try against the run of play.
Vikings were back within a couple of points by the interval, though, as powerful prop Corey Wallis, who put in an excellent shift, was credited with the score as the forwards drove over from close range following good work in the attack from Luke Grigg and Forbes-Lee.
The hosts carried that momentum into the second half as they took the lead for the first time just 80 seconds after the turnaround. The bounce of the ball was unkind to the Gosport winger as he attempted to hack clear Tom Veillard’s kick into their 22 but only managed an air shot under pressure from Kieran Creber, who picked up and sprinted to the posts.
The lead did not last long, though, as Marley Emtage replied with Gosport’s third try three minutes later before they edged ahead with another penalty.
But the see-saw nature of the match continued as Vikings hit back through birthday boy James Mroch as he burrowed his way to the line from a couple of yards out at the culmination of a sustained period of pressure.
Matt Lomas-Lloyd’s conversion extended the St Jacques lead to four points, but once more it was short-lived.
There seemed little immediate danger in the 62nd minute when Gosport spread the ball out wide to the left-hand side with the Vikings defensive line well organised, but Emtage managed to squirm his way out of a tackle and accelerate away to touch down with a roar of delight.
Brockhurst added the conversion to restore a three-point advantage and try as they might over the remaining 15 minutes, Vikings were unable to penetrate the visiting defence.
‘I think we should be proud of the lads, but a couple of individual errors at the end there cost us the game, quite frankly,’ said Vikings assistant coach Dave McGall.
TEAMS
St Jacques Vikings: Wallis, Mroch, Rushent, J Smith, Williamson, M Smith, Grigg, Croft, Whitfield, Veillard, Creber, Lomas-Lloyd, Forbes-Lee, Le Prevost, Lee. Replacements: Hitchens, MacCallum, Spinney.
Gosport & Fareham: Gamblin, Snowden, O’Donoghue, Jelley, name withheld, Curtis, Burnett, Trivett, Gee, Brockhurst, Head, York, M Hughes, Emtage, McRoberts. Carter, H Hughes, Dunning.
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