Isle of Wight 13-74 Winchester II
IW suffered their heaviest home defeat in several years, against league leaders Winchester II. The visitors were extremely impressive throughout most of the 80 minutes, and were much too strong for the outgunned Islanders.
A worrying start to the game featured IW under their own posts inside three minutes after a slick Winchester move. The home side did settle into the game, competing well in the tight as Concept Electrical man of the match Ian Puzey won a couple of turnovers and the ruck area was keenly contested. George Huish kicked a penalty from 35 metres to narrow the deficit, and then landed a beauty from the half-way line to make the score 7-6.
Winchester soon got their second try, but IW were giving as good as they got in this phase of the game, with bright moments from Danny Rackett and James Fitton in the back division. The forwards were also getting some dividend from their link play and from a close-in attack, Brad Martin crashed over for a good score. The conversion left IW up 13-12 after ++ minutes.
This development seemed to galvanise Winchester, who stepped up several gears, and in truth the match was almost one-way traffic from now on. The victors were a very slick outfit, with well-drilled forwards who were strong in the set-piece and support play. However, their back play was of an even higher order, with an exceptionally quick and side-stepping full-back the pick of the bunch by a distance. IW did their best in defence, but could not slow Winch attacking ball and conceded tries before half-time, at which point they trailed 29-13.
IW felt aggrieved late in the first half when Aaron Young broke down the right and the potentially try-scoring pass was deliberately knocked down by an opposing player, and also when one of Winchester’s tries featured a considerably forward pass. However, the referee had a very good game overall and IW could have no complaints about Winchester’s superiority. The IW defence was overworked, in part because they struggled to maintain possession due to handling errors and a misfiring lineout. They could not contain the rampant mainlanders’ attack, in spite of some great tackles by Huish, and notable turnovers by Biffa man of the match Finlay Lockhart and replacement Sam Jones.
The Islanders will lick their wounds and look to next weekend away to Havant III. The seconds travel to Southsea Nomads on the same day.
IW: Ward, Young, Browne, Rackett, Fitton, Huish, Lockhart, Puzey, Butler, Newnham, B Martin, Blackburn, J Bishop, Joyce, Blackman. Replacements: D Bishop, Wynyard-Wright, Jones.
