Sat 15 Jan 2022
Overton 41-17 Isle of Wight
IW travelled to North Hampshire this week to play an Overton side just above them in the table. The team will be disappointed with the final score, losing without even a bonus point to show for their efforts, in spite of some key men being unavailable. The scoreline could have quite easily been flipped if the Islanders had taken advantage of their early momentum.
For the first 20 minutes, the Islanders played like planned. Strong scrummaging and driving mauls created space for the elusive winger George Huish to stride over in the corner, converting his own try. IW then took advantage of the opposition’s slow start with a penalty from the restart, creating a driving maul allowing Fountain Inn man of the match Martin Newnham to drive over in the corner. The Island had a 12-0 lead and were looking set fair for a good day on the road.
After an Overton front rower was removed due to a head injury, their replacement prop was called in. Strong scrummaging from the IW front row caused their replacement to repeatedly call for medical support. These 6 minutes of injury time in the first half played a part in removing the momentum from the Islanders. Furthermore, injuries to key centres Dave Blackman and Biffa man of the match Chris Ormerod meant IW had to reshuffle the team, with Andrew Brown having to move into the centre. Overton were able to take advantage of the disruption and evened the score up to 12-12 at the break.
The second half saw IW capitulate early on. Unable to answer the strong attacks from the Overton back line with their outhalf causing havoc, multiple tries were conceded with George Huish, Nathan Rolfe and the evergreen Gary Warvill putting in some strong defensive work helping to limit the score.
After some strong words with each other under the posts, IW rallied in the last ten minutes. A series of scrums led to multiple penalties for IW. This led to a remarkable score, as the dominant Island eight pushed the home scrum fully 25 metres over the opposition try line, player-coach Keith Wallace touching down. The island then put further pressure on Overton for the bonus point but were unable to score a final try.
The Islanders need to take stock and review their performance, as serious improvements will be required for the visit of title contenders Tottonians II to Wootton Rec next Saturday. The seconds will host Winchester III, with both games kicking off at 2 pm.
IW: Warvill, Rolfe, Ormerod, D Blackman, Huish, Marriott, Augustus, Keyes, Bennett, Newnham, Pudney, Blackburn, Brown, Webster, Wallace. Replacements: C Browne, D Bishop, S Browne.
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