Sandown & Shanklin RFC won their 4th successive game by beating Bournemouth 2nds in Hampshire Counties 1 on Saturday (28th September).
The home side started the brightest and got onto the scoresheet first. Having made their way into the Bournemouth 22, the Hurricanes had an attacking scrum on the visitor’s 5 metre line. The Hurries’ pack had ascendancy in the scrum from the outset, and with the ball coming out of the scrum quickly, scrum half Beau Bridgeman collected position and bundled over the try line. Burr converted (7 – 0).
From the restart, the Bournemouth kick didn’t make the 10 metre line, so a scrum was called. From the back of this set piece, Man-of-the-Match Michael Barrett picked up the ball and sprinted and powered home for the Hurricanes 2nd score, Burr added the conversion for a 14 – 0 lead.
Before the half hour mark, the Hurricanes had secured the bonus point try. From a tap penalty, a fine forwards move found Ben Shannon on the carry; he managed to offload to Barrett, who then stepped would be tacklers to score his 2nd try of the afternoon. Burr missed his 2nd conversion in a row, but Sandown were further ahead (24 – 0).
Strong carrying from the Hurricanes forwards, notably Flux, Skelley, Chiverton and Carew, managed to help work the home side up the field. Sandown were denied to further tries that were held up up over the line, as Shannon and Carew both went close in separate attempts. Moments later fly-half Ant Burr scored off another strong Sandown scrum, as the play maker stepped inside the onrushing defence to dot down. This time around the stand off managed to convert the try, to send the home team into the half time interval, 31 – 0 ahead.
Half time: Sandown & Shanklin 31-0 Bournemouth 2nds
Following the start of the 2nd half, it didn’t take the Hurricanes long to score again. The restart failed to make the 10 metre line again, so a scrum was elected by Captain Chiverton. From the resulting scrum, the ball was fed wide to Ash Smith, who used his electric pace to beat defenders and score beside the posts. Burr converted to push the Hurricanes ahead even further (38 – 0).
It wasn’t all Sandown, however. The visitors rallied to try and get themselves some sort of consolation score. This came their way after Sandown were a little complacent with clearing their lines. The Bournemouth pack managed to smuggle the ball back on their side and were threatening the Hurricanes try line. After a number of powerful carries, they eventually managed to break through the Sandown defensive line to score under the sticks (38 – 7).
The final score came from powerful centre Rob Newton. From another scrum set piece move, the ball made its way to Newton, who stepped the defence to score himself. Burr converted to push the Hurricanes out to 45 – 7.
Full time: Sandown & Shanklin 45-7 Bournemouth 2nds
“I was delighted to see that even with a few personnel changes, we managed to keep building the momentum with another strong showing at home.
“It is a credit to the depth at the club and all those pushing for jerseys during the week for both teams, and has paid dividends with the position of both teams in the league table at the moment”.
HURRIES 2NDS SCORE 10 TRIES AGAINST NEW MILTON
Sandown & Shanklin RFC 2nds scored 64 points without reply against New Milton 2nds
The Hurries’ try scorers were: Ollie Parker (debutant and 1 of the recipients of Man of the Match), Jamie Dilk (Co Captain), Gary Warvill x 2 (Co Captain), Charles Little x 2, Josh Braham, Luke Gales, Sam Webster-Smith, and Luke Chandler. All other points came off the boot of Gary Warvill.
Full time: Sandown & Shanklin 2nds 64-0 New Milton 2nds
A spokesperson for SSRFC said:
“The game was won by a squad that never took the foot off the gas right up until the final whistle, even with a significant lead. A great sign of determination and positive mindset.
“The squad had a mixture of seasoned players who brought calmness, confidence and experience, and young blood who brought energy, desire and a bit of bite. A great combination.
“The 2nd Man of the Match was won by Jordan Langdon, who put his hand up and played prop for the first time ever. And he liked it!”
“Every single player who took to the field deserves a nod as you can only get a result like that through team work and unselfishness.”
