By Isle of Wight Observer
In Counties Three, Ventnor narrowly lost 27-24 away at Overton, and the Islanders edged the tight contest early on. Riley Lloyd, Jewy Jones, and Dan Lythgoe were industrious, with Lewy Morton and Jack Gilbey controlling line-outs. An outstanding performance from Cody Hayman, alongside Harvey Wheeler, set up a position from which Lloyd piled over for an early score, converted by Josh Ford.
Overton used the slope and conditions to press Ventnor into their own 22, scoring a try. Ventnor responded through winning a scrum, leading to Tom Scadden and Fred Fairman feeding Alec Bulpitt on the left, running home from 30 metres out, with Ford converting for 14-5. Ventnor conceded a penalty and try, and the score narrowed to 14-13 at the break.
Harry Bexon-Stone and George Collett joined the fray in place of Lloyd and Gilbey, with 18-year-old debutant, Pat Banks, in the back row, establishing himself as a player for the future. Ventnor’s Tom Scadden kicked for position, winning the scrum, and player-of-the-match Cody Hayman secured a penalty. Ford found hooker, Jones, to score for 19-13. Overton replied with a converted try, with wingers, Archie Lucy and Fred Fairman, threatening throughout. Gaining a penalty and electing a scrum, Collett and Banks pressed forward and Harvey Wheeler accelerated down the wing. Ford converted for 24-20 and a nail-biting finish. The ref awarded another controversial penalty, with Bexon-Stone cautioned, and Overton exploiting territory, conditions and a player advantage to score and win by 3 points.
The two bonus points gained after 10 matches sees Ventnor slightly extend their lead above Tottonians to four points at the top of the table.
Ventnor II XV lost 44-0 away at Fawley.
Vectis U13s won their end-to-end plate semi-final 6-4 away at Winchester, with tries from Tom Saunders (3), Billy Young (2) and Finley Stevens (1). Jasper Branston was named player- of-th- match by Winchester. A club spokesman added: “The lads faced a big Winchester team who really wanted to win. We got overpowered early on, but the grit and determination of every single player got us the win. A great performance from the whole team.”