Match report Ventnor RFC 2XV The Lions 41 – 12 Tottonians RFC Vets

Ventnor RFC 2XV “The Lions” 41 – 12 Tottonians RFC Vets

Tottonions RFC arrived hours early hoping for an early kickoff but instead had to take in the sights and sounds of Ventnor as they couldn’t access the playing field whilst Ventnor had to wait for all the “Lions” to arrive.

The game started a bit shambolically as veteran fullback Warren Riches kicked the ball straight into touch from the kick-off.

Tottonians opted for a scrum in the middle of the pitch. From where flankers Alex Morton and Lewis Morton together with scrum-half Rob Palmer disrupted the Tottonians back line turning possession over to Max Wheeler who ran in from the halfway line to score his first competitive try for Ventnor.

Tottonians RFC fought back with vigour but it wasn’t to be as the Lions used their home ground knowledge to keep them pinned in their own half. The pressure lead to a penalty in front of the uprights for Warren Riches to slot yet another three points.

Soon after this Tottonians received a yellow card for continuous infringements and their number eight had to spend 10 minutes in the sin bin. Ventnor capitalised on this with another try by rookie fly half Max Wheeler, who by this time ran rings around his opposite number. Some strict refereeing saw the referee give Giles Hurst his first ever yellow card for diving in a ruck.

Tottonions never gave up and came back at the Lions with everything they had but some strong defence from Cory Turner and Ben Atkins stopped them in their tracks. The game continued with even possession but mostly the Lions capitalising on their possession with tries from Deano Magnurson and Alex Morton.

It was truly a day for the young guns, as Gareth Gough showed some electric pace in the second half to run in two tries from the halfway line with no opposition player able to lay as much as a hand on him.

The end scoreline of 41-12 flattered the Lions as Tottonians were a tough team to beat.

Team – Stemmet, Franklin , Noyes, S Gough, Davis, L Morton, A Morton, Magnurson, Palmer, Wheeler, Atkins, Turner, Hurst, G Gough, Riches, J Palmer, Annandale

AJ Wells Man of the Match – Max Wheeler

Red Funnel Moment of the Match – Gareth Gough

Images by Isle of Wight rugby photographer Andrew Cooper Photography of this game will appear in the and this match report will appear in the Autumn 2018 edition of the Ventnor RFC Magazine