Ventnor played host to Chineham in their opening Hampshire Division 2 league match of the season. Ventnor started brightly and moved the ball well to disorganise the Chineham defence time and again in the first 10 minutes and were rewarded when captain Danny Newbury crashed over for the first try, after good work from the impressive Todd Riches.
Ventnor continued to play open expansive rugby, with Harris and Babington making good ground every time they got possession, scoring two further first half tries from Riches, and Tom Englegardt, to make the half time score 17 – 0.
In the second half Ventnor took their foot off the peddle and allowed Chineham’s strong ball carriers to make ground on several occasions, finally resulting in 2 unconverted tries being scored by the visitors in the final 10 minutes.
After Chineham’s 2nd try, Ventnor raised their game to the level of the first half performance and ran in two more tries by Riches and Paul Berry.
Overall it was a very encouraging start from Ventnor and the team are now looking forward to next weeks home match against Locksheath Pumas, KO 3pm.
The club would like to thank Adams and Gee kitchens, for sponsoring the match.