Honours are even for Bognor and Basingstoke

Both teams had several opportunities to win outright and the visitors led for the vast majority of the 80 minutes but a draw was probably a fair result.

Bognor and Basingstoke lie joint second in Hampshire Counties 1 – huge progress from last season when Bognor languished in the relegation zone until a post-Christmas renaissance saw them climb to finish a respectable fifth.

They are still a very young side but steadily increasing maturity has already seen them dispose of Millbrook, Guernsey, Portsmouth and Andover.

Bognor got off to the worst possible start when Matt Norrell knocked on direct from the kick-off. Six phases later the visitors were awarded a penalty for offside and opted for an attacking lineout from which they scored the opening try.

Bognor hit back immediately and earned a penalty which Adam Halligan converted to narrow the gap to two points. The 17-year full-back old has been a revelation this season: since making his senior debut five weeks ago – his kicking and his devastating running a joy to watch.

Bognor’s kick-off receipts started to become a bit of a nightmare as skipper Charlie Jays, normally the most reliable of receivers, knocked on to put his side back under pressure. Veteran South African prop Marc ‘BJ’ Voigt compounded the error by playing the scrum-half right under the referee’s nose, allowing ex-Bognor fly-half Jack Lysagt to restore the visitors’ five-point lead.

After defensive work deep inside their own half, Bognor gave supporters something to cheer about. No8 Jamie Foote picked up from a scrum on his own 10m line and made 30m unopposed before releasing Charlie Spray with a perfect pass, the young winger flying over in the corner for Bognor’s first try.

Basingstoke battered away deep inside Bognor’s 22, only to see the ball held up over the try line. Bognor had managed to venture into the opponents’ half on only three occasions, with Lysagt pulling the strings and picking out his runners with accurate distribution.

Finally, Bognor managed to exert pressure of their own and the pendulum swung their way. Halligan, having made two uncharacteristic kicking errors, showed maturity beyond his years by landing his second penalty to bring his side to within two points at half-time.

Basingstoke began the second half stronger and scored an early try to restore the five-point lead. Halligan was disappointed to see a penalty rebound off an upright but soon the afternoon was lit up by a combination of speed and sheer class as Connor Herrington turned on the after-burners to score a brilliant try.

Again, Bognor suffered at the restart when Jays was unceremoniously stripped of the ball to hand the advantage back to the visitors. Bognor’s second-row pairing of James Rimmer and Noah Flinn kept their side in the game with fearless carrying and tackling but they could do nothing to prevent Basingstoke from scoring their bonus-point try.

Yet again, Bognor’s response was immediate, Norrell finishing off a fine move by crashing over in the corner, a superb conversion by Halligan reducing the arrears to two points.

A long kick by replacement scrum-half Jack Hornibrook found acres of space and it took the fingertips of a panicking Basingstoke defender to prevent Herrington from helping himself to a second try.

Both sides were showing signs of fatigue but the home side cracked first. Norrell made three crunching tackles in quick succession but was unable to complete a fourth and the result was a clear run-in for an opposing player.

Lysagt missed the conversion and with time running out, Basingstoke were seven points ahead.

Some prominent carries and a vital turnover by MoM Voigt enabled his side to launch a final assault which resulted in Foote smashing his way over in the corner for two bonus points. It was left to Halligan to calmly stroke the ball over from the touchline and earn his side a draw.

This Saturday Bognor host Sandown & Shanklin. All support welcome.