In a thrilling season opener on a warm, Autumn day, the Isle of Wight Mens 2’s showcased their dominance with a commanding 7-2 victory over US Portsmouth.
The Island side started with a strong line-up featuring Nate Bower in goal and a solid backline of Ethan Edmunds-Lamb, Lewis Heaven-Gandy, Reuben Smallwood-Butler and Patrick Butt. Ben Hobbs, Mike Dodds, Kit McChesney and Carl Joyce controlled the midfield while Stephen Woodford with Thomas Young battled and worked hard up front.
The Islanders quickly established their superiority, scoring 3 goals within the first 15 minutes.
As the game progressed, the introduction of ‘super subs’ Cian Smallwood-Butler and Jarrod Butler injected even more energy into the match, leading to a 4-0 halftime lead.
Despite a spirited 2nd half response from US Portsmouth – which saw them score 2 goals, 1 from a crazy deflected shot off 3 players sticks, the Island’s relentless teamwork shone through. Woodford capped off a fantastic performance with his 5th goal, with Joyce and Young also getting on the score sheet.
Nate’s impressive saves in goal were pivotal in keeping US Portsmouth to just 2 goals. Woody was named Man of the Match for his clinical finishing.
Next week the whole club will be in action with home fixtures of Isle of Wight Ladies 1s vs Chichester 2s and Isle of Wight Mens 2s vs Haslemere 5s. While the Mens 1s open their season away at Romsey and the Ladies 2s travel to Portsmouth.