Expectations were high this week after a strong performance in the last game and Civil Service had a win in their sights. Starting strongly and battling well with Portsmouth whose scrum struggled against the strength of the Civil Service pack in the set scrum which was great to see. The game raged backwards and forwards for the first 20 minutes with neither side penetrating the others defence, unknown to the spectators the referee had warned Civil Service for encroaching and so without further lecture binned a player somewhat harshly when he was prepared to talk to Portsmouth. That unlocked the stalemate with Portsmouth able to exploit the missing forward scoring twice as Civil Service tried to keep up the pressure. You just cannot afford to play with 14 players in this league, just before half time Portsmouth also received a yellow card not before time having at least received several conversations and as a result Civil Service also pulled back a score. The second half was dominated by Civil Service with good forward play in the set scrums but poor lineout work and costly errors of judgement in the final quarter cost the game. There were some strange decisions with what was 90 degrees in the scrum and running into a team mate but hey ho, very costly and officials never get it wrong! No doubt though the Civil Service catalogue of errors was very expensive and a let off for Portsmouth who just had to take advantage of the situation which they did confidently having absorbed the pressure.
This makes the task even more of an uphill fight but Civil Service still have the resolve and will to give it their best shot.
PT