Ventnor showed some sparkling rugby only to be beaten by unforced errors and ill-discipline in their Hampshire Division 3 game against Overton at Watcombe Bottom on Saturday (3rd December).
The 2 tries scored by the home team in the 1st half were as good as they come. For the 1st, Ventnor made strong progress up the middle through Adam Pratt, Joel Walton, Harry Colson and their indomitable skipper Lewis Jones. A quick ruck was formed, Chris Cardwell-Hill fed Fergus Kenny, and the flyhalf’s astute diagonal grubber kick was touched down by Dan Greaves in the corner to help the fullback celebrate his birthday.
For the 2nd, a fine mix of forwards and backs took the ball away from the point of contact, and sweet passing from George Collett and Joe Coghlan put Sam Lines over. Both tries were converted by Cardwell-Hill.
The problem was that Overton scored 3, the 1st 2 through attacking positions solely gained by Ventnor’s disastrous penalty count and the 3rd through Ventnor’s inability to look after the ball in an attack that led to a breakaway try to the Overton right winger from his own try line.
Half time: Ventnor 14-19 Overton
The 2nd half served up more of the same. The powerful running of Dan Bell, George Finan and Ed Blake, plus the support play of Andy Teague, often put Ventnor in the right place of the field, but the inability to string phases together led to the ball being lost, and Overton were happy to live on these scraps and turn them into points. Indeed, the visitors scored 3 tries in this period to secure the game, and it was only in the dying embers of the game that Jones once more made ground, Blake chipped ahead, and the tireless Bell crashed over for a try that Kenny converted.
Full time: Ventnor 21-36 Overton
Ventnor: Collett, Jones (capt), Pratt, Teague, Walton, Colson, Coghlan, Bell, Cardwell-Hill, Kenny, Finan, Entwistle, Lines, E.Blake, Greaves. Subs: Price, Soutter, Fox Coaches: Jason Evans, Fergus Kenny and Clive Cardwell-Hill Physio: Zoe Jones
A J Wells man of the match: Zoe Jones
Red Funnel moment of the match: Dan Greaves
