The heat is on, Havant go top

A scorching day on the South-Coast greeted both teams at another packed Hooks Lane on matchday two of Regional 1 South-central.
The weather certainly paid its part in the game with the referee allowing water breaks every twenty minutes.
Making six changes from the previous weeks win over Horsham, Havant made the better start and inside the first ten minutes led 10-0 with tries from forwards, Sean Shepherd and Wes Dugan.
A couple of defensive lapses minutes apart gave Tunbridge the lead for the first time in the sweltering heat. 10-14.
It was very much end to end, with both sides showing some good attacking phases of play. Havant edged in front after a couple infringements at the breakdown, Jacob Knight was accurate with the boot and Havant had their lead back.16-14.
With thirty-three minutes on the scoreboard Havant extended their lead further when the marauding Dylan Lawley found space, Jacob Knight slotted the conversion. Some great defensive sets by both teams saw out the rest of the first half, with a welcomed break of halftime.

Halftime Havant 23 Tunbridge Wells 14

Tunbridge attacked quickly at the start of the 2nd period and soon had Havant under pressure, reducing the lead to two points, that would be the closest they would get.
Another penalty at a breakdown and Jacob Knight put Havant on the attack again, the resulting lineout was well worked with Dylan Lawley scoring his 2nd and the bonus point try. 28-21.
The game was still very much end to end a credit to both teams! but Havant extended their lead further with a long penalty from Jacob Knight some forty meters out.
Another penalty for Havant put the game beyond Tunbridge, Jacob Knight's nudge getting cheers and rattles from the crowd. 34-21 going into the last ten minutes. Tunbridge tried hard to force a way through to get their own bonus points, but the door was firmly shut.

Fulltime Havant 34 Tunbridge Wells 21

Captain Jacob Knight's thoughts on the performance.
"Tough game given the temperature but the boys showed a big improvement from week1. We discussed a lot in the week around making sure we get into our patterns and create a platform to play our game and I think we did that well.
Still lots to work on which we will address at training, but a positive step in the right direction across the whole squad as we build towards Brighton next Saturday."