2nds battle to win
Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 4:27PM IW II 19 Chineham II 10
A tight match at Wootton Rec saw the Isle of Wight seconds return to the top half of the league table with victory over Chineham.
Chineham travelled short, and the Islanders donated them forward Damian Walshe to ensure a competitive game. Walshe went on to impress and was one of Chineham’s best players. Meanwhile, the Island were disrupted early on by the loss of tearaway forward Sam Lock to a back injury after just two minutes, though his replacement Chad Oatley went on to play strongly.
The Island edged the opening quarter, as their forwards competed well, particularly impressing at the scrum and also at the breakdown. Man of the match Colman Cotter marshalled the pack well from scrum-half, as well as making a threatening break which almost led to a try. Eventually, the Island opened the scoring after Tony Lillington made good ground down the left, and when the ball was recycled captain Gary Warvill darted over for an unconverted score.
Chineham improved after this setback, controlling possession and working the Island defence overtime. However, the rearguard stood firm, only yielding a penalty opportunity which was kicked wide. As halftime approached, the Island broke out and set up camp in the Chineham 22. They went through a series of phases, until Brandon Frost-Jones reached out to touch down. Warvill converted and the IW led 12-0 at halftime.
As the second half got under way, the IW looked the likelier to add to their score, but their backline moves often broke down owing to handling errors and lack of cohesion. From one such situation, Chineham kicked through, and when the IW failed to deal with the loose ball the visitors scored their first try.
The game remained scrappy, but Warvill pinned Chineham back with effective tactical kicking, while the pack applied good pressure. After strong work by Rory Wilson and Ali Downer, Warvill sped through a gap to score an important try, which he improved to extend the IW lead. Though Chineham would touch down again with three minutes to go, the Island saw out the remaining minutes in comfort to secure the win.
Tomorrow (Saturday), the Island firsts travel to Millbrook, while the seconds are at Portsmouth.
IW: Merry, Coates, Lillington, Gates, Warvill, Cotter, Frost-Jones, Love, Brine, Downer, R Wilson, Lock, Pugh-Panther, Oatley, Leahy, Walshe.
