IW II 20-34 Ventnor II
In the curtain-raiser to the first team game between the two clubs, IW and Ventnor played a well contested affair at Wootton Rec with the spoils going to the visitors.
This was IW’s first game of the season, while their opposition had an away win under their belt from last weekend. In typical second team fashion, the first half-hour or so was scrappy, with the teams cancelling each other out and little to choose between them. Ventnor looked dangerous with a couple of strong runners making line breaks, but good scramble defence from Nathan Rolfe and Nick Blyth kept the game scoreless. However, on the half-hour, Ventnor were able to retain possession from one such break and opened the scoring, quickly followed by another. IW replied with a penalty from Island Healthcare man of the match Andy Rann, and trailed 10-3 at the half.
The game seemed up for grabs, but IW’s first-up tackling let them down on a couple of occasions in the third quarter, with one opposing player proving especially powerful and stretching the lead to 27-3. IW seemed dead and buried, but now played their best rugby and took over. Strong running by impressive debutant Owen Williams and Biffa man of the match Jim Willetts forced numerous penalties, and eventually the hardworking Adam Groves crashed over, Rann adding the conversion. This was soon followed by the try of the game, as clean scrum ball was moved right by Blyth and Geoff Scandrett, before the returning James Fitton picked a great line and scorched clear to score in the corner.
IW continued to string phases together and applied further pressure, rewarded by a sniping try by the excellent Blyth. Now only trailing by seven points, an unlikely comeback seemed possible, but Ventnor managed the closing minutes well and exploited a gap in the home defence to get the insurance score.
Though disappointed to lose, IW enjoyed the match with several players making their first appearance in some time, such as the experienced Nathan Tombleson and Rhys Martin, while joining Williams in making his debut was winger Ben White. IW II travel to take on Portsmouth III next weekend.
IW II: Rolfe, Fitton, Langdon, Rann, M Joyce, Scandrett, Blyth, Willetts, Tombleson, Davey, Metcalfe, J Bishop, Williams, T Groves, A Groves. Reps: R Martin, B White, Stretch.
