By Isle of Wight Observer
Hurricanes’ second fifteen overcame a strong Tottonians side, with Island sides IW and Ventnor losing at home, with other matches falling victim to frozen pitches.
In Division Two, an under-strength Isle of Wight side were outgunned 43-0 at home to unbeaten Millbrook’s muscle and method. The first match of 2025 saw Danny Rackett injured again after 10 minutes, with the Islanders conceding 4 tries in 20 minutes. This was despite bruising battles from player-of-the-match, Harri Jones-Evans, skipper, Luke Blackman, and his brother, David, which restricted the score to 0-22 at the break.
The introduction of Ben Hart, alongside Nathan Rolfe and Will Marsh on the wing, after several years’ absence, saw some positional gains, as well as line-out wins, but not enough to trouble the scorer, including the frustration of the hard-working centre being held up on the score-line. Tiring, the Islanders conceded again to end the match 0-43 but they took positives from the encounter.
Four converted tries saw Premiership South’s Sandown & Shanklin Hurricanes II XV win 28-12 away at Tottonians III, with Tottonians thanking the Island side, and their supporters, for making the journey despite the wintry conditions.
Ventnor II XV lost 14-35 at home to Millbrook II XV, with skipper, Jack Rushton, having a 27-player squad available for the robust encounter.
Ventnor, through strong running from Joe Coghlan and Jack Gilbey, dominating scrums and tough tackling from Henrik Brown, Chris Skelley and Charlie Magnurson, limited the visitors to a 14-0 lead at the break.
Warren Riches and Jake Babbington kicked to secure territorial advantage, with subs, Ed Clarke, George Collett and Iain Reeves, supporting the drive for points. Lewy Morton got Ventnor’s first try, with player-of-the-match, Will Broomfield, scoring the second. Both were converted by Harry Ottley, with Millbrook’s strength in depth adding to their scores and running out 35-14 winners.
Fixtures
After their postponed match away at Basingstoke, Division One Hurricanes welcome Eastleigh. IW travel to Winchester II in Division Two, and Ventnor are away at Romsey in Division Three. Hurricanes II XV are home to Chichester III, and Ventnor II welcome Tottonians III to Watcombe Bottom.
To view our on-line gallery of this week’s sport, visit iw.observer/311-sport.