IWRFC 1st XV 35 v Ventnor 1st XV 6 - 19/12/09
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 12:12PM A thoroughly deserved victory. The Island ended 2009 with a dominating win over rivals Ventnor, in front of one of the largest crowds seen at Wootton in recent years. This win owes much to the effort and focus of the players over the season and was build on a solid defence, an ability to pressure the opposition and the taking of opportunities.
An early loss of Stu Browne to injury saw the introduction of Catalin Dinu for his 1st XV debut. His first touch was a pass to Chris Williams, who kicked forward, into the Ventnor try area. Hesitation by Ventnors full back, waiting for the ball to go dead, allowed Dinu to dive and touch down. Phil Baldwin added the conversion.
Soon followed the first of three sin binnings for the Island. After a brief exchange of ‘hand bags’ after a scrum, much to the surprise of all, Dean Jennings was harshly given a 10 minute break. Despite this the Island stretched their lead with a Baldwin penalty. With the Island keen to defend their line, the three quarters were caught off side and Damion Marriott kicked Ventnor’s first points.
After been back to full strength for a couple of minutes, the Island received their second yellow card, on Nick Puckett for ‘team indiscressions’, an odd call when the final penalty count (8 to 11) showed that Ventnor were the more at fault. Marriott again added the kick.
Early second half pressure allowed Baldwin to kick two further penalties for a 16-6 lead. After missing another attempt, a speculative Baldwin drop goal was knocked on under Ventnor’s posts. Attacking from the scrum, saw Ollie Boulter held up, but the reset allowed Nick Puckett to pick and power over, the conversion added.
Ventnor then threw everything at the home side, but strong defence only allowed a kick at goal, that was missed. With the Island again down to 14 players for 10 minutes, the ball was kicked deep into the Ventnor 22. Ventnor, playing catch up, attempted a quick throw, which missed both their players, for Neil Brading to gather and score, Baldwin adding the kick. The game was now over as a contest, but the Island kept the best for last. From a scrum in their own 22, Lymington Precision Engineers Man of the Match, Adam Leal, picked up the ball and broke out. After running some 30 yards his pass found the supporting Chris Williams who sprinted over to emphasis the Islands dominance.
Any side that can play for over a third of a game with a man short and run in 25 unanswered points second half, deserves to be at the top of Hampshire 2 at Christmas. The effort will need to be sustained to make sure that the same position is maintained for Easter. Plenty more work and effort to come!
The coaching team would like to take this opportunity to thank all players, supporters, helpers and players families for their support, help effort and encouragement and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Next game is a Cup match on Sunday 3rd January, home to Overton. Training will take place on Tuesday 29th December.
IWRFC: S Browne, C Williams, W Peters, N Brading, A Gates, P Baldwin, C Cotter, N Puckett, A Leal, N Tombleson, A Thomas, D Church, D Jennings, M Newnham, I Puzey, O Boulter, C Dinu, S Wilson
