IW 27-27 Andover II
Isle of Wight’s 100% record this season perished at windy Wootton, but they dug deep to maintain their unbeaten calendar year home record against an accomplished Andover side. Trailing for most of the 80 minutes, IW struggled to impose themselves but showed determination in recovering to salvage a draw in the closing minutes, which moves them into second place in the league.
IW went into the fixture with most of their players available, except for half-back general Alex Augustus, who was ably replaced by the experienced Dave Hanson. Playing into the strong wind, IW found themselves behind immediately as they failed to deal with the kick-off and conceded a try. This was followed by another Andover score on seven minutes, and IW were ten points down without having really got started.
Belatedly, the home side got into the game, and played some of their best rugby of the game, maintaining possession but finding the Andover rearguard in an unforgiving mood. It took until the 22 minute mark to break their duck, as the narrow side was cleverly attacked and captain Luke Blackman executed a smart offload for Toby Margham to plunge over in the corner. George Huish landed the tough conversion to narrow the gap to three. However, IW struggled to build on this, Andover disrupting IW continuity with sharp work around the tackle area, while the visitors were also dangerous in possession themselves. Their third try came from a pushover scrum though, as IW’s earlier dominance vanished. Andover led 15-7 at the break.
Now with the elements in their favour, IW would still have been favoured by many to turn the game around, but instead were under their posts as Andover scored their bonus point try within four minutes of the restart. It was important that the hosts regained momentum, and this was achieved with notable contributions from Sam McQueen and Biffa man of the match Andy Rann, returning to action after a period of absence. Purposeful driving play from the forwards set up good position, from which full-back Mark Waterer ran a hard line and crashed over near the posts for a fine score. This was shortly followed by another seven-pointer, a clinical lineout maul allowing Blackman to touch down. Huish’s conversions gave IW a 21-20 lead and their support began to breathe a little easier.
This lead would be shortlived, the Islanders conceding a penalty before some flimsy defending allowed a powerful Andover carrier to break four tackles and score. With Huish and Waterer using the wind well and the IW scrum returning to its old self, the Rangers battled back and would dominate the remaining 20 minutes, but Andover were a hard nut to crack and there would be no more tries for the homesters. Huish kicked a penalty with 15 to go, and IW trailed by three. They then had another kickable penalty with two minutes plus injury time, and opted to level the scores with the intention of launching one more assault for the win. Huish again did the needful, but IW’s final attack was thwarted by Andover, who were worth the draw and performed well above their league position.
IW coach David Blackman said afterwards: “We showed good character today to pull back from 20-7 down. Today wasn’t our best game by any means, but that just means that we can be better next week.” IW travel off the Island for the first time this season on Saturday next, when they face Romsey, while the seconds go to Eastleigh III.
IW: Waterer, Rolfe, Jones-Evans, Margham, Ward, Huish, Hanson, Newnham, McQueen, Keyes, Blackburn, Pudney, Bennett, Webster, Blackman. Replacements: Webster-Smith, Rann, Wallace.
