Hampshire Division 2
Fareham Heathens 8-0 Ventnor 1st XV
Hampshire Merit 2
Ventnor 2nd XV 12-45 Tottonians 4th
In a brutal, brutal game where Ventnor II’s never gave up and battled right to the end, Tottonian IV’s vast experience and know-how were, in the end, too much for a patchwork home team to cope with. A mounting injury list saw Ventnor lose the power of Ollie Jones and Mike Walker early on but not before the former had bulldozed over for a powerful try.
Energy and enthusiasm saw Ventnor manage to keep a very good Tottonians team to a 12-10 score at half time. When the ball got to the backs Ventnor looked dangerous but the experience of the Tottonians pack meant that Ventnor got sucked into playing a forwards-dominated game that was always going to be a struggle. And that was proved as injury after injury meant that Ventnor ended the game with only 13 players on the pitch, 3 of whom should have gone off injured but wanted to fight on to the end.
The final score does not flatter Tottonians who were much the better side, well drilled in all set pieces. But neither is it an embarrassment to a Ventnor team who can take heart from the fact that, whilst on parity of player numbers, the game was a close one with some good tackling from Ed Blake and Tim Ross and some excellent distribution from Aaron Marriott particular highlights along with the silky running skills of Allan Bridges and Ben Lush who combined well on a number of occasions.
Black dog went to Jamie Bradshaw.
Team Sponsors AJ Wells and Wightlink