Southsea Nomads 2nds 20 v IWRFC 2nds 3 - 02/04/11
Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 8:30PM A makeshift Isle of Wight second team gave a spirited performance in defeat at Portsmouth University playing fields.
In spring sunshine, the Island played with a slight breeze in the first half, but were under pressure for the first 10 minutes, defending well but being undone by a clever crosskick which bounced favourably for the home side. THe conversion was missed, and the Island relished the opportunity to get their hands on the ball and put some phases together.
The IW scrum was functioning well as the front row of Josh Wright, Tom Love and Andy Brown prospered, while Lymington Precision Engineers man of the match Nathan Proud was industrious at scrum-half. Nomads’ defence was firm, but they did concede a penalty which captain Kieran Leahy kicked accurately from 45 metres to narrow the gap to 5-3.
As the first half wore on, the IW began to take over, establishing territory and testing the Nomads rearguard repeatedly. Wingers Ian Rock and James Horton almost outflanked the defence on separate occasions, but good cover defence foiled them. Debutant James Flux also impressed at centre with some strong running, but there were no more additions to the scoreboard before half-time.
The game remained in the balance for most of the second half, though there was a marked shift in territorial dominance, as Nomads spent most of their time in the Island half. They had numerous substitutes to freshen up their ranks, but the Island only had the bare fifteen, and lost experienced centre Will Peters to a blood injury for 10 minutes. The visitors’ defence was courageous, but a key moment came as Nomads crossed for a second try on 60 minutes.
In an effort to bridge the gap, the IW now had to take more chances from inside their own half. One Andy Puckett break threatened to kickstart a revival, but Nomads continued to control possession and territory, scoring two tries in the last ten minutes to put a misleading slant on the scoreline.
Tomorrow (Saturday) the Island firsts conclude their league campaign, needing to beat Farnborough at home to be certain of their Hampshire One status next season. The second team host Millbrook. Both games kick off at Wootton Rec at 3 pm. IW: Leahy, Rock, Flux, Peters, Horton, Harley, Proud, Wright, Love, Brown, A Puckett, Reid, Grover, Payne, Greedy.
Reader Comments (1)
Sorry but there is an obvious error in your report mate, it states that A. Puckett played. That's obviously a typo!!!!!!
I thought he was always injured or working!!!!!!!!!