Sat 17 Jan 2026
After what seems like an age and after some drastic changes to the league structure, Christchurch travelled to Ellingham & Ringwood 3s in Round 2 of the new Hampshire Counties 6 (South) league. Although this was Round 2 for Christchurch this was their first, being without a fixture in Round 1.
As with the previous meeting of these two teams, the game was a competetive encounter. Ellingham & Ringwood opened the scoring with a converted try before Christchurch replied with two converted tries of their own. Ellingham & Ringwood fought back with another try before Christchurch again scored a converted try to go into the break 12 - 21 up.
The second half saw Ellingham & Ringwood score first with a converted try to bring the score to 19 - 21. Christchurch edged ahead again with their 3rd try to take the score to 19 - 26 before Ellingham & Ringwood scored two further tries to take a slender 29 - 26 lead into the later stages of the game. Both teams pushed for that vital final score: it was Christchurch who prevailed, scoring their 5th try that was duly converted to take the final score to 29 - 33 and a bonus point victory.
It was a great performance by the whole squad after such a long break over the Christmas and New Year break, and a great start to 2026 and the new league format. A huge thank you to all those who travelled to support - it makes such a difference to all of us at CRFC.
On another positive note for the club, we saw the return of Damon 'Damo' Quinn after a long break owing to injury. Damo hasn't got his boots on and back playing as yet, but he will be supporting our coaching team as backs' coach - welcome home Damo!
Round 3 sees us back on home turf to take on Fareham Heathens 2s on the 24th January 2026, KO 14:00.
Christchurch scorers on the day were:
- Chris Freeman - 2 tries
- Sam Farnden - 2 tries
- Jake Pidgley - 1 try
- Noah Legg - 4 conversions
Player of the Match:
Noah Legg, great all round performance, stepping in at scrum half for this game.
D*** of the Day:
In a rare, maybe unheard of situation, Christchurch provided both D*** of the day recipients.
James Pidgley, nominated by Christchurch, for forgetting the ball needs to go backwards out the hands for it to be a legal pass.
Sam Farnden, nominated by Ellingham & Ringwood and rightly so, for potentially scoring Christchurch's 6th try to then run out the back of the in-goal area before stepping back in to place the ball.
