Sandown & Shanklin RFC 1st XV 91 – 5 Chichester RFC 2nd XV
Sandown & Shanklin welcomed Chichester RFC 2nd XV to the Fairway Ground for their final fixture of the 2022/23 season, in a game that was postponed from February.
The first half began with the visitors kicking off down the hill, and with the wind behind them, it made the kick-off challenging to secure, and clearing the lines difficult. Despite this, it didn’t take too long before the Hurricanes were stressing the Chichester defence. After a few quick phases, the ball was spun down the line to Fletcher who used his pace to score in the corner. This was shortly followed by tries for Marriott, Captain Zak Chiverton, and Fletcher’s 2nd of the game, to put Sandown 24 – 0 ahead, with only a quarter of the game played.
As Sandown moved through the gears, they opted to play with ball in hand, using the likes of Flux, Hunter, Barrett and Shannon to carry hard into the Chi defence and create space outside for the Hurricanes midfield of Burr and Tyson to exploit. This provided Rob Newton Jnr and Michael Barrett to score 2 tries a piece, to practically double the hosts margin, 44 – 0. The final score of the first half fell to Charles Little, who made the most of the opportunity created for him to score. The score at the half time interval, 49 – 0 to the home side.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first half, as skipper Chiverton got his 2nd of the game, following a smartly executed lineout move. This was then shortly followed by Newton Jnr, scoring his 3rd try of the game for his hat-trick. Scrum-half Tom Marriott also managed to achieve his brace, following an excellent break and step to score under the posts. It wasn’t all the hosts way, with Chichester managing a score of their own, after a string of repeated infringements from the home side.
The introduction of debutants Will Hatch, and Will Hickmott, saw the Hurricanes have a very youthful complexion in the lineup as they approached the final quarter of the game. A final three tries were scored, before the visitors approached the referee and the Sandown Captain to call the game ten minutes early.
A 3rd try for Barrett, who was deputising in the second row, meant he also completed his own hat-trick of tries. The final 2 tries came the way of centre Sam Tyson, who will be relieved, after making a wager with the Club Chairman, that resulted in the centre growing an untamely moustache until he had scored a try. Fortunately for him, he managed to dot down twice, leaving the final score, 91 – 5, despite the tricky and blustery conditions.
Director of Rugby, Damien Marriott, was on hand to reflect on the game after the final whistle:
“Great way to finish off the season, the boys were ruthless in attack, and that was just what I was looking for. Recently we moved the lads around in the squad, playing in different positions, giving younger players game time in a senior game, and the opportunity to put a hand up for positions ahead of next season.
“Now our intention as a club is to build and improve on the excellent work we have done this season and looking forward to the cup competitions beginning over the next 2 weeks. Our Vets out against Winchester RFC vets on the 1st April, and awaiting the second round draw of the Papa Johns Community Cup.”
Elsewhere, the clubs 2nd XV were narrowly defeated 27-42 by Southsea Nomads RFC.
Both squads looked strong on paper with the visitors travelling with 21 players and the hosts naming a 25-man strong squad. An amazing achievement in itself when just last year we struggled to field a side regularly.
Unfortunately before kick off 2 players fell ill and a 3rd was drafted into the 1st XV, nonetheless, all 3 being centres, it resulted in a shift around to plug the vacancies before kick off.
The game did not disappoint, from the off it was filled with hard running and even harder tackles. the hosts struck first with a feature of their play this season, taking a quick tap penalty and captain Michael Cooper catching the defence unawares to score out wide, 5 – 0. This fired up Nomads and they hit back hard scoring some well worked tries using the prevailing wind effectively. Unfortunately the Hurricanes had the opportunity to counter, but didn’t take their chances leaving a huge half time deficit.
It’s not the Hurries way to give up and they certainly didn’t do that. Nomads did strike first after the half time interval, however, after that it was all the hosts way in the second half. Tries from guest player George Huish, Gary Warvill, Sam Buckingham and Connor King brought the scores closer, yet, it wasn’t enough to overturn an advantage that the visitors had built in the first half. Another 10 minutes and who knows, but all credit to Nomads who fully deserved the victory, 27 – 42.
Sandown & Shanklin 2nd XV Captain, Michael Cooper, shared his thoughts post game:
“Although today’s result didn’t go our way, the performance and spirit from the team was superb. Not one player let they team down. Picking a Wightfibre Man of the Match was difficult, but Jamie Dilk put in his best performance to date in a Sandown shirt tackling everything and running hard with the ball.
“As a squad we have just grown so much since last season, and the beginning of this season. We have established ourselves as a real threat in the league. Being one of the only 2nd XV’s, and competing against 1st XV’s in this league is a real challenge, but it is one we thrive on and have shown we are here to stay.”
Well done Jamie. Always knew you were a star.