Isle of Wight 55-15 Gosport and Fareham II
Isle of Wight secured a resounding win over Gosport and Fareham II, continuing their strong home form.
Again a strong wind was in evidence, the visitors choosing to play into the elements in the first half.IW kicked off and immediately put Gosport under pressure. After some strong driving runs from the home pack, Luke Blackman flopped over the line. The try was converted by George Huish. The visitors responded, using some slick hands to score out wide. IW then pressured from the kick off, resulting in successive penalties. They chose to scrummage the latter of these, and the decision paid off as they drove up to the visitors’ line, Blackman again taking advantage to crash over. The conversion left IW ahead 14-5.
This score changed the momentum in the game, as IW now tok over. The veteran half back pairing of co-captain Alex Augustus and Mark Waterer added significant tempo to the islands play, marshaling a lot of quick penalties and strong forward drives. This allowed co-captain Andrew Brown to drive over the line to score, Huish converting. IW then defended well holding a strong Gosport attack, with Dan Bishop producing a bone crunching tackle. IW resumed the pressure and before halftime the backline produced a lovely move, allowing winger Chris Ormerod to dive over in the corner for the bonus point score just before halftime, leaving the score at 26-5.
IW expected a strong resurgence from the visitors and tightened up their play at the beginning of the second half. This strategy created results with the Islanders winning a penalty in the opposition 22. Again the scrum paid dividends, allowing Blackman to complete his hat-trick. Penalties then started to take their toll on the visitors. IW took advantage of the possession as Brown scored from a quick tap penalty.
Gosport were not giving up and scored their second try, but IW then replied, as Augustus was able to score from a quick tap penalty making the score 43-10. The game then opened up with both teams offering some offloading play. Player coach Keith Wallace finished off a great move to bring up the half-century, though Gosport battled on and then managed to score a consolation try. Fountain Inn Man of the match Blackman had the final word with a try from 5 yards out, his fourth of a memorable display. The game ended 55-15, with Huish adding five conversions in total.
The IW 1st XV are unbeaten at home in 2022 and have the week off before the visit of Romsey on the 19th March.
IW: S Browne, Ormerod, Huish, White, Toms, Waterer, Augustus, Keyes, McQueen, Newnham, Blackburn, Pudney, Brown, Webster, Blackman. Replacements: D Bishop, Wallace, C Browne.
