Ventnor were vanquished by over a 50-point margin in the Channel Islands by league leaders Guernsey Vikings on Saturday (28th February).
The Island side were forced into making early changes to the team before kick-off when Ben Cooper’s hamstring decided that all the travel was too much, and he retired to the touchline. This meant fly-half Luke Butler moved to inside centre to partner Sam Lines, with Ferg Kenny moving from scrum-half to fly-half. Louis Malkin, well used to playing at 9, slotted in at scrum-half, and Ed Blake moved from wing to fullback – his place there being taken by George Finan off the bench. Ben Souter remained as the other wing.
Taking on the runaway league leaders in their own backyard was never going to be an easy task, and Ventnor didn’t help themselves from the 1st whistle. Despite the referee’s pre-match talk clearly emphasising the importance of safety and tackle height, the Guernsey ball catcher at the kick-off was high tackled, and the ensuing penalty pushed the visitors back into their own 22. A minute-and-a-half into the game and the home side were ahead after touching down following a kick behind the defence in the visitors’ 22, and this was soon followed by a 2nd try after some lacklustre tackling in the backline.
Despite the opposition having a distinct weight advantage, the Ventnor pack of Collet, Jones, and Savill in the front row, with Teague and Colson at locks, and a back row of Coghlan, Morton and Bell were winning all their 1st phase ball in scrum and lineout. Unfortunately, the team as a whole were unable to repeat the performance of the previous week, where they had shown that if they kept possession and strung phases together, then space created out wide would lead to try-scoring opportunities. Guernsey are not at the top of the league without good reason and any good team will capitalise on mistakes and punish you.
A quick ball from a penalty against Ventnor saw the ball go quickly along the line for another Vikings score, and a further two tries in the half came from poor Ventnor passing decisions in their own 22. It is to the team’s credit though that they still kept fighting, and midway through the half some excellent tackling from Ferg Kenny turned the ball over and the quick ball gave Sam Lines the opportunity to weave his way over by the posts. A Kenny conversion and Ventnor were on the score sheet.
Their cause wasn’t helped when Butler was yellow-carded for another Ventnor high tackle and the visitors turned around 33-10 adrift at half-time after Kenny had added a penalty to his tally after Vikings strayed offside.
Half time: Guernsey Vikings 33-10 v Ventnor 1st XV
Halftime enabled the coaches to make some changes with Jason Coltham replacing Andy Teague, Charlie Magnurson on for Joe Coghlan, and Alan Foxie replacing George Finan on the wing. With Butler’s enforced 10-minute rest, the opposition were quick to exploit the extra man advantage and scored another converted try after good work by their three-quarters.
Ventnor’s fitness stood them in good stead with some excellent rampaging carries from captain Jones (resembling a baby rhino on the charge) and number 8 Bell, with flanker Lewy Morton putting in his usual shift of tackling anything that moved. The visitors weren’t able to capitalise on this good work and were not able to string the phases together and couldn’t add to their scoreline.
In a similar fashion to some previous games, some poor decision-making in their own 22 by Ventnor allowed the opposition to score another couple of tries with the final try coming from a Ventnor kick-off, and a couple of missed tackles later the home side completed their try-scoring for the afternoon.
The scoreline will disappoint Ventnor as 5 of the Viking’s tries came from Ventnor mistakes and a 6th when they were a man down following the yellow card. A 30-point winning margin would have been a much fairer result but – with a rest day next Saturday – Ventnor can regroup in preparation for the home game against Gosport & Fareham.
Full time: Guernsey Vikings 66-10 v Ventnor 1st XV
Ventnor 1st XV: Collet, Jones (capt), Savill, Teague, Colson, Coghlan, Morton, Bell, Malkin, Kenny, Souter, Butler, Lines, Finan, Blake replacements: Coltham, Foxie, Magnurson
AJ Wells Man of the Match: L.Jones
Red Funnel Moment: Ben Cooper
