Isle of Wight, Ventnor and Sandown & Shanklin all swallowed the bitter taste defeat on Saturday (19th October).
In Hampshire Counties 2, Isle of Wight suffered their heaviest home loss in several years against league leaders Winchester II.
The visitors were extremely impressive throughout most of the 80 minutes, and were much too strong for the outgunned Islanders.
A worrying start to the game featured the Isle of Wight under their own posts inside 3 minutes after a slick Winchester move. The home side did settle into the game, competing well in the tight as man-of-the-match Ian Puzey won a couple of turnovers, and the ruck area was keenly contested. George Huish kicked a penalty from 35 metres to narrow the deficit, and then landed a beauty from the half-way line to make the score 7-6.
Winchester soon got their 2nd try, but Isle of Wight were giving as good as they got in this phase of the game, with bright moments from Danny Rackett and James Fitton in the back division. The forwards were also getting some dividend from their link play and from a close-in attack, Brad Martin crashed over for a good score. The conversion left the home side leading by a single point (13-12).
This development galvanised Winchester, who stepped up several gears, and the match was almost one-way traffic from now on. The victors were a very slick outfit, with well-drilled forwards who were strong in the set-piece and support play. However, their back play was of an even higher order, with an exceptionally quick and side-stepping full-back the pick of the bunch by a distance. Isle of Wight did their best in defence but could not slow Winchester’s attacking ball and conceded tries before half-time.
Half time: Isle of Wight 29-13 Winchester II
Isle of Wight felt aggrieved late in the 1st half when Aaron Young broke down the right, and the potentially try-scoring pass was deliberately knocked down by an opposing player, and also when one of Winchester’s tries featured a considerably forward pass. However, the referee had a very good game overall, and the home side could have no complaints about Winchester’s superiority.
The Isle of Wight defence was overworked, in part because they struggled to maintain possession due to handling errors and a misfiring lineout. They could not contain the rampant mainlanders’ attack, in spite of some great tackles by Huish, and notable turnovers by man-of-the-match Finlay Lockhart and replacement Sam Jones.
Full time: Isle of Wight 13-74 Winchester II
Isle of Wight: Ward, Young, Browne, Rackett, Fitton, Huish, Lockhart, Puzey, Butler, Newnham, B Martin, Blackburn, J Bishop, Joyce, Blackman. Replacements: D Bishop, Wynyard-Wright, Jones.
The Islanders will lick their wounds and look to next weekend away to Havant III. The seconds travel to Southsea Nomads on the same day.
In Hampshire Counties 3, Ventnor were beaten by Romsey at Watcombe Bottom.
After the great performance the previous Saturday, this was a disappointing loss to a Romsey team who showed that they were up for the battle from the first whistle.
Despite Ventnor’s set scrum working well with Dan Lythgoe, Lewis Jones and Jack Rushton winning the front row tussle, the other parts of the Islanders’ game were not up to par in the first 20 minutes, with missed first-up tackles leading to 2 converted tries to the visitors, and the recurrence of the perennial issue of a high penalty count giving away field position.
However, Ventnor came back into the game strongly after a huge kick down field by Fred Fairman and some pressure from Joe Coghlan, Ed Blake and Ben Souter that set up a position from which Jones crashed over to put the home team on the board.
With the line-out beginning to function and Harry Ottley playing himself into the match at fly-half, Ventnor began to look more threatening, and another kick ahead led to a position from which Ben Cooper (on for the injured Tom Crews) was able to cut a great line to dive over for a try which Souter converted.
Half time: Ventnor 12-14 Romsey
Ventnor rejigged at the break, with George Collett moving into the front row and Iain Reeves coming on for his 1st XV debut. Lewis Howard moved into the backrow and Louis Wyatt came on in the three quarters.
However, the 2nd half was a bitter disappointment, with Ventnor seemingly forgetting what had worked well for them and trying to run the ball from deep positions leading to turnovers and penalties which brought Romsey straight back into the game. The visitors scored a total of 5 tries in this 2nd period without reply from the home team, whose only highlights were a penalty try, a blistering run from Wyatt that almost led to another score and the defiance of Cooper, Jack Gilbey and the ubiquitous Coghlan, who eventually had to leave the field after yet another tackle.
Full time Ventnor 19 – 45 Romsey 45
Ventnor: Lythgoe, Jones, Rushton, Frampton, Teague, Collett, Coghlan, Savill (capt), Souter, Ottley, E.Blake, Howard, Crews, Gilbey, Fairman.
Subs: Reeves, Wyatt, Cooper
The A.J.Wells Man of the Match: Jack Rushton
The Red Funnel Moment of the Match: Will Harrison
Next Saturday (26th October) both teams Ventnor teams are away with the 1st XV playing at Overton and the 2nd XV at Millbrook.
In Hampshire County 1, Sandown & Shanklin suffered a narrow 41-34 away defeat at the hands of Eastleigh Pirates.
The club commented:
“An entertaining and close match away at Eastleigh Pirates RFC this week for the 1st XV, who went down narrowly by 7 points in a 75 point game
“Importantly, however, the boys secured a try bonus and losing bonus, keeping us in 3rd position in Hampshire Counties 1.”
