Sat 4 Dec 2021
Romsey 7 Isle of Wight 34
Isle of Wight RFC’s 1st XV travelled to bottom of the table Romsey and were successful in backing up last week’s away win in Gosport with a clearcut triumph.
The Islanders started with strong forward play and Dave Blackman managed to take advantage as he flopped over from 5 yards out. Controlling the tight exchanges on a cold and windy day, the IW pack took the ascendancy early on. The front row of Ian Bennett, Fountain Inn man of the match Ricky Keyes and evergreen Martin Newnham dominated proceedings, earning a pushover try early on with Biffa man of the match Keith Wallace touching down. Not long after this, IW again elected for a scrum in the Romsey 22 and again Wallace took advantage for another 5 pointer. This saw the visitors up at half time by 17 points and with momentum well in their favour.
Tactically astute kicking from Alex Augustus and Tom Marriott created good field position for the Island pack. A strong lineout and subsequent driving maul allowed Wallace to pop up with another try to round off his hat trick, giving IW a 24-0 lead.
The game descended into some ill discipline, as Romsey received one yellow card for constant infringements at the ruck. This was followed by cards for flanker James Webster (late tackle) and second row Kev Blackburn (high tackle) forcing IW down to 13 for a short while. The referee grabbed hold of the game and delivered strong words to both sides, and there would be no further sanctions.
After IW returned to their full complement, the forwards drove into the opposition 22, creating enough space for centre Luke Blackman to bulldoze over from 1 metre out.
The last ten minutes were fairly even, a good move from the Isle of Wight backline seeing replacement George Huish race in from near the halfway line. Finally, Romsey had the last word with a great consolation try out wide, after some strong carries from their influential blindside flanker.
Now up to 7th in the league, IW hope to maintain momentum and continue to move up the tight Hampshire 1 table. They look forward to the visit of United Services Portsmouth on Saturday next, their first home match in eight weeks, with a 2 pm kickoff at Wootton Rec.
IW: S Browne, C Browne, D Blackman, L Blackman, Ormerod, Marriott, Augustus, Wallace, Brown, Webster, Blackburn, D Bishop, Keyes, Bennett, Newnham. Replacement: Huish.
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