It was a tough day at the office for Ventnor’s 1st XV when they travelled across the water to play Romsey.
Ventnor included the father and son combination of Iain and Dylan Reeves for the first time.
The team hadn’t played for 5 weeks, and it showed as the first 20 minutes was littered with errors by both teams, with the game played between the 22 metre lines. Even so, the Islanders’ forwards were competing well with Jewy Jones, Dan Lythgoe and the ageless Ben Savill leading from the front. This early pressure led to a penalty, which would have calmed the nerves but the attempt slid the wrong side of the posts.
Romsey were first to get the scoreboard rolling with a try on their first foray into the Ventnor 22. Ventnor were still competing well, and it wasn’t until Romsey scored a 2nd try that the home team managed to impose their game plan.
It then became one way traffic, Ventnor unable to retain possession sufficiently to go through the phases, and a number of missed tackles contributed to the try count against them. The Islanders’ cause wasn’t helped when they were reduced to 14 men after 2nd row Andy Teague was yellow carded following a team warning for a series of high tackles.
After returning to the fray, Teague suffered a serious knee injury, resulting in the game having to be moved to another pitch to allow him to receive medical treatment. This brought a change in Ventnor’s fortunes, and they finally and deservedly crossed the whitewash after another crunching tackle by Alec Bulpit shook the ball loose, and Cory Turner picked up a bouncing ball to race under the posts from 30 metres for a try, which was converted by Ed Blake. Romsey scored 1 more try with the last play of the game.
Despite being on the receiving end, Ventnor worked hard throughput, and this was commented on by the Romsey supporters, who said that a number of other teams had given up in the face of an onslaught from a team riding high in the table – testament indeed to the spirit that skipper Ben Savill has built within the squad.
Full time: Romsey 53 Ventnor 7
Ventnor: Lythgoe, Jones, Collett, I.Reeves, Coltham, Teague, Gilbey, Savill (capt) Coghlan, E.Blake, D.Reeves, Bulpitt, Turner, Martin, Souter Subs: Fox Coaches: Clive Cardwell-Hill, Todd Riches and Dean Magnurson Physio: Sarah Watt
A.J.Wells Man of the Match: Cory Turner
Red Funnel Moments of the Match: Andy Teague Coaches: Clive Cardwell-Hill, Todd Riches and Dean Magnurson
