By Isle of Wight Observer
Ventnor RFC’s superior fitness and handling saw the Island team pull away, with three late tries in their 25-12 away win at Blandford, in their final friendly before the Counties season starts tomorrow (Saturday).
Ventnor conceded first, before responding as Jason Coltham, Ed Blake, and Tom Branagh made inroads to force a penalty, which Josh Ford converted. Branagh then fed Ford at the base of the scrum, giving the scrum-half the chance to sidestep his way over for a try, which he converted himself, to give Ventnor a 10-5 lead.
Substitute, Louis Malkin, returned for Ventnor, with Ford moving to fly-half, before Blandford scored next to take a 12-10 lead. Ventnor responded with some excellent running rugby, with Boss Ibose, Tom Scadden, and Max Henley in full flow, backed up by the powerful tackling of Alec Bulpitt, Lewy Morton, and player of the match, Aaron Robinson.
Ventnor scored next after a flowing move up the right, resulted in a quickly-taken penalty, allowing Morton to break through the defence, before Malkin and Branagh combined to put Blake in for an excellent score.
This was soon followed by a line-out maul, from which the ball was moved wide to the left, and Scadden put Hayden Lythgoe in for a try.
It was all Ventnor now, with Luke Starkey making an impact after coming on. The ball was worked up the left, with Scadden weaving his way towards the line before Malkin fed
Williams, whose flick-on pass put Luke Butler in at the corner, for a final score of 25-12.
Ventnor head coach, Damien Marriott, said: “Another really positive test for us yesterday against a very physical Blandford side. They had an incredible season last year, so we knew this would be a big step up and exactly the sort of challenge we wanted before the league begins.
“The first half was about understanding the conditions and playing them properly. We managed the game well, played in the right areas, but the second half really impressed me. Our skill set really started to come to life.
“We began moving the ball with more confidence, playing into space, and showing more of the attacking rugby we’ve been working hard on throughout pre-season.
“There are still areas we need to sharpen up, but that’s exactly what these games are for. To finish pre-season with another win, against such a physical and competitive side, is really pleasing. More importantly, we’ve put ourselves in a great position going into next week.”