IW II 83-12 US Portsmouth II
Isle of Wight seconds enjoyed their first win of the season at sunny Wootton Rec, with an ultimately facile win over a youthful visiting United Services side. After a closely fought first 40 minutes, the second half became one-way traffic for the superior Islanders.
IW were grateful to neighbours Sandown & Shanklin who supplied some of their second team to bolster the squad. The opposition was made up primarily of Portsmouth University students, who as expected were lively with ball in hand and certainly put it up to their hosts in the first half. USP scored first after 6 minutes, but IW were soon on terms as a good run by Biffa man of the match Jack Sharples set up field position, and slick hands saw captain Stuart Browne glide over in the corner to level it at 5-5 after 20 minutes.
Guest full-back Ash Smith showed his exceptional pace soon after this, running in a fine individual score, and then another which he converted. The balance of play was quite even though, a Jayme Bishop yellow card preceding another US try, which left IW with a 17-12 lead at half-time.
The second half was entirely different to the first, USP fading while IW took a grip on the match, with direct running and good combination play creating and exploiting gaps. Karl Davey and debutant George Butler impressed in a dominant pack performance. The introduction of no. 8 Joe Bussell off the bench was also pivotal – in only his second match for the club, he was too much for the opposition to deal with when carrying hard, and opened the second half scoring with a powerful run from outside the 22. Concept man of the match Chris Ormerod also carried hard and scored, while Smith and Bussell went on to complete their hat-tricks. There were additional scores for guest players Dilk, Gurling and Jack Smith, while Nathan Proud added a series of conversions. The young USP side deserve credit for not giving up and battling to the end, but in truth they were overwhelmed by a rampant home side.
IW seconds are next in action on 4 November when they welcome Christchurch II to Wootton Rec.
IW: A Smith, Cromie, S Browne ©, Ormerod, Hemming, Scandrett, Hanson, Davey, Butler, Willetts, J Bishop, Sharples, Jones, Stretch, Cooper. Reps: Bussell, J Dilk, Proud, J Smith, Gurling, C Dilk.
