Sandown & Shanklin Rugby Football Club secured promotion to the Counties 1 Hampshire League following a hard-fought away win at Winchester RFC over the weekend. The side travelled to Winchester RFC with their destiny in their own hands, knowing that a victory would see them crowned Counties 2 Hampshire league Champions, and seal promotion into Counties 1. The game kicked off with the hosts setting the early pace, but the nerves were somewhat settled for the visitors, when Winchester looked to attack wide, fullback Max Fletcher intercepted a pass from the fly-half and sprinted near on the length of the pitch to score, 0 – 5. As the game settled into a rhythm there was a clear pattern, as the Hurricanes pack dominated the hosts in scrum and around the park, their back line would keep them in the game, with a number of promising players looking to make a mark. Sandown managed to withstand the another attacking onslaught and with Shannon, Chiverton and Booth dominating the front row come scrum time, the away side had a foothold to work their way up field. As the Hurricanes forwards began to start working through their patterns, they managed to score their second try of the afternoon. After an initial break by Captain Jacob Jordan, the ball was recycled and made its way to the on rushing Number 8, Michael Barrett, who powered over the try line. Burr converted to push the Hurricanes advantage out to 0 – 12. Despite the superiority upfront the hosts managed to battle their up field, and following a string of penalties and infringements, were able to score their first try of the game, and then followed this up moments later with a penalty to narrow the margin to, 8 – 12, come midway through the first half. Following the restart the Hurricanes regained possession and with some strong phases of carrying drawing in the Winchester defence, there were spaces outside. Burr using his vision put in a crossfield kick which bounced up for winger Ashley Smith to collect and sprint home to score, for Sandown’s third try of the game, 8 – 17. This was followed up moments later, as the gusty conditions made it tricky to secure high balls all afternoon, the restart was fumbled and allowed Winchester territory in the Sandown 22. Their busy scrum half took advantage with a quick tap penalty to score out wide and add another try to Winchester’s tally, 13 – 17. The Hurricanes aimed to finish the first half in control and did so by scoring their fourth try and securing the try bonus point. Following another powerful scrum the ball worked its way into the blindside channel, where sharp handling from the forwards, found Luke Hunter in space to power over the try line in the corner, 13 – 22, bringing the end to proceedings for the first half. The second half kicked off with the Hurricanes reclaiming possession in the hosts 22, and working their way up to their 5 metre line. From another strong scrum, the ball was spun wide, and with various options running off Burr, the fly half had the time and space to step and jink through the defence to score, as the Winchester tacklers were too focussed on the options for Burr to pass too. Burr converted to extend the Hurricanes lead, 13 – 29. The middle portion of the second half descended into an arm wrestle as the referee became card happy, attempting to control the two sides. First two fall foul was Michael Barrett for an adjudged high tackle on a Winchester attacker. Moments later, Shannon was shown the yellow card for an infringement at a breakdown. Despite the numeral advantage, and reorganising of the front row, the Sandown pack still managed to hold and drive back the Winchester pack of 8, with six men. As the momentum swung back towards the hurricanes, Winchester also began to fall foul of yellow cards. As the hurricanes still aimed to attack with numbers down, a strong carry from Wightfibre Man of the Match, Sam Flux, saw him dispatch a number of tacklers, one of which would end up being yellow carded for a no arms tackle. A second yellow card followed for the hosts, as the defender could not release possession of the ball. This didn’t bring an end to the sin bins, with Chiverton becoming the fifth player to be yellow carded, as he was involved in an off the ball incident with a Winchester player. The final score of the game fell to the hosts, as they exploited the numerical advantage late on, as their young talented back line made the most of the space available to them, 18 – 29. Then the final whistle eventually came around and the Hurricanes erupted into jubilant celebration as they earned promotion and also the league title, to the delight of the travelling support, with 2 coaches of supporters making their way to Winchester for the final fixture of the league season, and easily outnumbering the home support! SSRFC: 1. Ben Shannon, 2. Zak Chiverton, 3. Ben Booth, 4. Luke Hunter, 5. Sam Flux, 6. Jacob Jordan (C), 7. Sam Rees, 8. Michael Barrett; 9. Tom Marriott, 10. Anthony Burr, 11. Sam Tyson, 12. Rob Eston, 13. Luke Wedderkop, 14. Ashley Smith, 15. Max Fletcher. Subs: 16. Hugo Joliffe, 17. Damian Seder, 18. George Finan Post match through from SSRFC Director of Rugby, Damien Marriott:
“Clinching the league title is a remarkable achievement, and I could not be prouder of the players’ dedication and perseverance, as well as the coaching staff and supporters who have stood by us throughout the season. It is a moment to savor and celebrate as we reflect on the hard work and sacrifices that have brought us to this triumphant moment.”
Rugby action is not completed for the Hurricanes in the 2023/24 season. Next Saturday (13th April), Sandown & Shanklin RFC Vets are at home hosting Trojans RFC Vets, in a semi-final of the Hampshire Vets competition. Meanwhile the 1st XV were awarded a walkover in their Papa Johns Community Cup first round fixture, and await the results from the forthcoming weekend to see who they will be playing in the second round of the competition. Putting them three games away from a national final at Twickenham…
