ISLE OF WIGHT RFC SEASON FINISHES WITH PROMOTION TO COUNTIES 2 DESPITE DEFEAT AT EASTLEIGH

Isle of Wight RFC have been promoted to Counties 2 for a 3rd place finish – despite defeat at Eastleigh in their final game. The home side were bigger and stronger and scored some good tries, despite a gallant Isle of Wight performance. The sunny weather was welcome after a wet and windy season, and Eastleigh showed their pace early on, leaving the Isle of Wight behind their posts after conceding inside 90 seconds. An action-packed 1st half involved plenty of open rugby, with both sides having their moments, Biffa man of the match James Webster standing out. A clever piece of opportunism by Ricky Keyes led to an Isle of Wight break and an Eastleigh infringement, which meant a yellow card. This was capitalised on by the Islanders, as a prolonged spell of attack ended with Keith Wallace offloading for the supporting Dan Bishop to fend off the last tackler and touch down. George Huish converted and the Isle of Wight led 7-5 after 15 minutes. The Islanders struggled to find touch at times in the first 40, not helping their cause. Furthermore, their front-row availability issues for this fixture were added to by injury to Keyes, and they came under pressure in the scrum. Despite this, another spell of pressure seemed to promise another score, but an alert Eastleigh winger nipped in to intercept an offload and race the length of the field for a sucker-punch try. The hosts finished the half strongly and scored again on the call of half-time. Half time: Eastleigh II 19-7 Isle of Wight If the first half had been evenly balanced overall, the second half was mostly played in the Isle of Wight half. The visitors scrambled well but waves of powerful attacks were bound to tell, and Eastleigh sealed the game with three second-half tries, their outsized centre and speedy wingers prominent. The Isle of Wight finished strongly in a customary display of team spirit and scored the final try with 10 minutes remaining. Huish ran a hard line on 1st phase and the ball was quickly recycled for free-scoring no. 8 Luke Blackman, who fittingly got the side’s final touchdown of the season. The last few minutes were again all Eastleigh, but a gutsy defensive stand brought an end to proceedings. The Isle of Wight have finished a good season in 3rd place, up from their 6th place finish of the previous 4 seasons in a row and securing promotion to Division 2. The day was also notable as the final appearance of club legend Stuart Browne, bringing an end to an illustrious playing career, which began in the 1980s. Full time: Eastleigh II 36-12 Isle of Wight Isle of Wight: S Browne, Rolfe, Huish, McQueen, C Browne, Young, Lockhart, Hart, Butler, Keyes, B Martin, D Bishop, J Bishop, Webster, Blackman. Replacements: Wallace, A Martin, Wynyard-Wright. The club holds its AGM at the clubhouse on Wednesday 1 May, while its awards evening takes place on Saturday 25 May. Summer touch rugby will soon begin and details will be announced on the club’s social media channels.