Sat 14 Feb 2026
Aldershot & Fleet 40-29 Isle of Wight
An understrength Isle of Wight made the long journey to Aldershot and Fleet on Saturday and lost their winning run against a strong and motivated home team.
Isle of Wight had a much-changed side from previous games, using the opportunity to give experience to their younger players in the squad who put in a great effort.
The long journey left the players' minds still on the bus at kick-off, as a dropped kick-off led to a clean break by AF’s outside half and centre to score in the first minute.
This stirred the Rangers into life who then spent the next twenty minutes camped in the opposition’s half. Outside half, George Huish, caught the defence napping by a trademark chip and chase leading to an outstanding pick up and slide over the line. IW then extended their lead with more pressure leading to a penalty right in front of the posts which Huish converted.
But then the game changed after IW was awarded a yellow card for a deliberate knock on. AF took full advantage of the space and with some very strong runs broke IW's resilient defence on two occasions. Jacob Wynyard-Wright and Jayme Bishop offered some brilliant tackling to try and keep them out.
Back to 15 players IW started to exert pressure again, twice held up over the line. Eventually the pressure told with some sustained pick and goes from the forwards. Sam McQueen, seeing space on the right, gave a perfectly timed pass to Ben Sanderson to go over untouched. But the game turned again with just seconds to go to halftime when IW were again reduced to 14 men with another deliberate knock-on which also led to a penalty try. AF led 26-15 at half-time.
IW started the second half again trying to hold out AF whilst the yellow card ran down but could not stop their big runners who broke the line two more times. When IOW returned to 15 men, once more they started to dominate. A quick tap penalty was taken by captain Luke Blackman but he was again held up over the line. From the goal-line dropout, IW came right back at them and Blackman got his revenge by powering over with two men on his back.
IOW were now fighting hard to try and break down the home defence, but a series of unforced errors led to a third yellow card which seemingly put the game out of touch for the islanders
But, as has become a trademark for this young team, they never gave up. Ben Savill came off after playing the whole game with a broken hand, sustained in the warmup. On came their ever-green coach Neil Evans, out of retirement, who was held up over the line for the team’s fourth time after some slick hands from Blackman, Evans himself and Dan Bishop.
Eventually their pressure told when Red Funnel man of the match Sam McQueen made a beautiful side-step to gallop through like a racehorse and flop under the posts in the dying seconds, ensuring a try bonus point for his team.
This was a disjointed performance from the islanders but it gave the youngsters and the growing squad valuable experience as they continue to build their team. But for yellow card woes, an unlikely victory could have been theirs, and they will take encouragement into their next assignment on Saturday at Overton.
