With barely 15 players, Southampton took to the field in this friendly against Chichester IIs knowing they would be in for a tough afternoon. After some disappointing league results, Saints were desperate to turn good possession into points and a victory.

But things didn't start well for Southampton, who have been struggling to get going early on in recent games. The ball was quickly moved out to the Chichester right wing, who broke through a tackle before being bundled into touch.

Chichester continued the early pressure and launched a number of high balls, taking advantage of the bright sunshine to dazzle the Saints defence. One kick was gathered by the covering right winger Josh, who did well to sidestep the oncoming Chichester attacker and make himself some space. But he was then tackled inside the Saints' 22 and the ball was turned over. Sensing the Saints defence was stretched, Chichester moved the ball infield to the full back, who came into the line at pace and cut through the Southampton midfield under the posts. The conversion was charged by Josh, who got a hand to the ball, but still saw it wobble over the crossbar.

But despite the slow start, Saints picked themselves up and started stringing together some possession. Mark Waterer's recall at full back added some much-needed pace to the Saints back division, while the forwards were having a good day at the scrum. The Chichester pack seemed unable to hold their own scrum steady and found themselves being driven backwards by the powerful Saints forwards. But despite flashes of promise, Saints were never quite able to find the finishing touch in the first half and went into half time trailing 0-7.

The second half continued much as the first, with Southampton dominating the visitors' scrum. But on a number of occassions the backs were guilty of kicking away possession, giving Chichester the chance to clear their lines.

Yet again, left wing Dave Ward was seeing plenty of the ball and it was he who finally broke through the Chichester defence. Matt Simmons linked up with Tony Cador, who drew his man before releasing Ward. Tony worked hard to loop round and take the ball outside Ward, then did well in contact to stay on his feet and look for the offload. It was Ward who came charging through to make the extra man and claim his second try in two games. It looks like he's starting to enjoy himself on the wing. Full back next week then... The conversion was unsuccessful from a difficult angle, but Saints had closed the gap to 5-7

Saints continued to dominate the forward game in the second half, making it difficult for Chi to set up an attacking platform. But they had some quick runners and looked to exploit opportunities around the breakdown. A chip over the defence had Saints chasing back towards their own line, but it was Dave Griffiths who got there ahead of the winger, to touch down in-goal for a 22 drop out.

The winning try was a further demonstration of the strength and power of the Saints pack, who set up a solid rolling maul down the right. With Chi desperately trying to bring it down, Saints managed to stay on their feet long enough to cross the try line. When the bodies were peeled off, it was Tony Cador who came up with the ball in hand. The conversion was wide, but Saints now led 10-7.

With no subs available, Tony spent the last 10 minutes playing through the pain of a injured ankle. But when the Chichester kick off went straight to him, he showed no sign of his injury by making good yards down the right. Southampton held off Chichester in the final minutes to record a good win, 10-7. Some great performances from Saints, who can take heart from the fact that they had beaten an in-form side. The pack were tremendous, comfortably out-scrummaging Chichester, while the backs are starting to find space out wide. Saints will be looking to improve on this standard of rugby as the league resumes next week, with Southampton facing Farnborough at Test Park.

Meanwhile a makeshift 2XV went down 29-19 to Fawley. Some promising looking students and rising stars, but they will be looking for more guidance from the older players in future weeks.