By Isle of Wight Observer
Sandown & Shanklin Hurricanes won 19-15 at home to Gosport & Fareham, to move to 6th place in Division One. The Island side were 5-0 up after 5 minutes, going 12-5 up after 20 minutes, and, despite having a player yellow-carded, the Hurries scored again to lead 19-8, with less than 20 minutes left, hanging on to win 19-15 but having with another player yellow-carded.
In Division Two, Isle of Wight lost 59-5 away to a very strong Petersfield side, with the Islanders defending from the start; however pace and experience gave Petersfield the upper hand, with IW battling to gain and retain field position. When they did find the 5-metre line with a penalty kick, player-of-the-match, Ben Hart, scored following a maul, with Cameron Browne’s mazy run unlucky not to add to the score. The Island side is looking forward to their last match of the season, at Fordingbridge, on March 22.
Ventnor, in front of a large Division Three crowd, lost 19-18 at home to Eastleigh. Lewy Morton led the tackling numbers, but Ben Cooper, Alec Bulpitt and Jack Gilbey stood out, and centre’s Ben Souter and Harry Ottley exploited territory. The side was disappointed to be trailing 14-0 before Ottley, Cooper and Bulpitt combined to put Louis Wyatt in for a fabulous try in the corner, and go in to the break 14-5 behind.
After the break, player-of-the-match Tom Smith, despite being victim to a cynical elbow whilst touching down, scored to see Ventnor back in contention. He was fed by Alec Bulpitt, leading to a Tom Crews conversion for 12-14. After Crews added more 2 penalties and the visitors suffered a yellow card, Ventnor were within minutes of a famous victory. However, the Islanders conceded a penalty in extra-time, securing a final play in the corner as Eastleigh crossed the try-line to snatch a last-second victory.
With the final weekend of the 6 Nations, the next round of fixtures is on Saturday, March 22.