IW 39-26 Romsey
Isle of Wight continued their good run of results with a bonus point win over Romsey at sunny Wootton Rec. The victory was expected as Romsey lie bottom of Hampshire One, but the performance was somewhat patchy as IW lost momentum for a spell, and the outcome was briefly in doubt until a late resurgence put the result to bed.
A strong cross-wind did not affect the teams too much, but a sickening clash of heads forced IW’s Callum Pudney and a Romsey player from the pitch inside three minutes. IW forced the pace from the off, establishing complete dominance in the scrum and driving into Romsey territory, leading to a try for Luke Blackman after 12 minutes. Biffa man of the match Blackman continued his prolific season with a second try on 20 minutes, applying the touchdown after a powerful eight-man shove from the hosts.
Romsey tried their best and looked to carry some firepower in their backline, but were being outdone up front by the rampant Islanders. It was now the turn of the backs to capitalise, as a scything break by Fountain Inn man of the match Mark Waterer was supported by Tom Marriott for a try, converted by George Huish. Further pressure allowed Huish to pick a good line and crash over for the bonus point try before half-time, his conversion leaving IW up 24-0.
A crushing margin of victory seemed likely at this stage, but Romsey legend Nick Creal flopped over on the stroke of half-time to give his side hope. This score seemed to trigger a momentum shift in the game. It was difficult to say whether IW relaxed after their opening 35 minutes, but in any case Romsey were a transformed team and began to find gaps in the home defences. The aging Creal scored his second within five minutes of the resumption, before poor IW defence was again punished by Romsey, who now were firmly back in the contest at 24-19.
Belatedly, IW snapped out of their malaise and set up camp in the Romsey 22, helped by strong carries from Andrew Brown and wing Chris Ormerod. A combination of IW infringements and tigerish defence denied IW on a number of occasions, and eventually they opted to kick at goal from in front of the posts, Huish adding three.
IW now settled again and were largely in control, before scoring the try of the game with 10 minutes to go. The backs were given a platform and executed a beautiful move, Huish showing his pace to round the cover and power over for his second try. IW then ran the ball from deep, seasoned veteran Andy White selling an outrageous dummy before sprinting over. Huish converted bringing his personal tally to 19 points, but Romsey were not finished and exploited passive IW defence to score their fourth try before the final whistle.
IW celebrated the win and moving up two places to sixth in the league table, but know that they have much to work on before their final two league games of this season. They travel to US Portsmouth next Saturday, before hosting Ventnor on 2 April.
IW: Huish, Ormerod, Marriott, White, C Browne, Waterer, Augustus, Keyes, McQueen, Newnham, Blackburn, D Bishop, Brown, Pudney, Blackman. Replacements: Webster-Smith, Bennett, Rolfe.
