The home crowd at Ventnor RFC were certainly cheering on Saturday when Ventnor 1XV secured a win over their Southampton opposition.
The game started hesitantly from Ventnor as the mental challenge of playing against a side short of full numbers took some overcoming.
The key to the game would be unselfish expansive play, and this came after 10 minutes with Ed Blake scoring from the wing. Tries soon followed from Max Wheeler and Todd Riches. However, it wasn’t all one way traffic as Southampton’s well drilled pack gained a couple of scores from set plays to keep the game interesting.
The second half saw the game fully swing in Ventnor’s favour with Wheeler and Blake completing their braces, Chris Hill and Justinas Urbonas getting on the score sheet too. Todd Riches had a 100% kick rate that with his try gave him a personal haul of 21 points.
The final try for the home side came from scrum half Andy Gough, which when converted by Ricky Keyes took the Ventnor total to 9 converted tries.
Ventnor 1XV 63 – 22 Southampton 1XV
AJ Wells Man of the Match: Max Wheeler
Red Funnel Moment of the Match: Andy Gough
Team: Stemmet, Keyes, Pratt, Teague, Savill, Marsh, Hill, Colson, Gough, Riches, Turner, Urbonas, Wheeler, Blake, Babington. Subs – Edwards, Noyes, Annadale, Green, Jones
Ventnor RFC would like to thank the following for sponsoring the match: The Crab and Lobster Tap, The Bistro, Northwood Garage, The White Horse and The Garlic Farm.
