Thatcham RFC and Sully Sports RFC Tour at Ventnor Rugby Club Sat 7 May 2022
Ventnor Rugby Club played hosts to two touring teams on Saturday 7th May 2022 – namely Thatcham RFC and Sully Sports RFC.
Expertly managed by Fergus Kenny and Tom Engelgardt, three games were played each of thirty minutes.
Ventnor took the first game against a competitive Thatcham side, drew a scrappy match against Sully Sports and won the third against a Thatcham and Sully Barbarian side. It has to be said that both touring teams were suffering the effects of the Island’s hospitality from the previous evening!
Star performers for Ventnor were Fred Fairman and Andrew Addison – both having their debuts for the club – Jake Babington for his end to end try, Mike Flanagan for keeping up his scoring record for the club and Sam Lines whose silky running won him the A J Wells Man of the Match award. Ed Blake took he Red Funnel Moment of the Match award.
Ventnor’s squad: Andrew Addison, Ben Atkins, Jake Babington, Dan Bell, Ed Blake, James Blake, Joe Coghlan, George Collett, Harry Colson, Tom Crews, Charlie Dilk, James Dilk, Tom Engelgardt, Fred Fairman, Mike Flanagan, Chris Hill, Sam Lines, Tom Marriott, Alex Morton, Dan Noyes, Luke Orton, Warren Riches, Jack Rushton, Ben Savill, Andrew Teague, Cory Turner, Joel Walton, Harvey Wheeler and Max Wheeler.
Ventnor Rugby Club would like to thank:-
Thatcham RFC and Sully Sports RFC for choosing the Island for their tour destination. There will be several venues whose coffers will have been enhanced by their visit. They were excellent company and we hope to see them both again – either here or at their clubs.
James Thorogood (Thatcham) and Mike Jones (Sully Sports) for putting it all together.
Clive Cardwell-Hill for stepping up and refereeing all three games with exactly the right spirit for the occasion.
Fergus and Tommo for ensuring the programme for the afternoon ran smoothly and for giving each of the Ventnor players plenty of time on the pitch.
To the noble Ventnor RFC bar staff who worked so hard throughout the afternoon and evening, namely Flan, Carrie, Liz, Roly, Sam, Nancy, Ed, Alex, Chris, Foxie, Jodie and many more. Some of those cocktail jugs looked positively radio-active.
To Ann Marie Williams and her daughter Steph for providing a wonderful barbecue with the minimum of fuss despite the complete lack of organisation from the VRFC side (mea culpa!).
To Tim and Vicki Morgan for the hog roast which provided the players an excellent post-match meal.
To Gem and Mike of the Isle of Wight Bouncy Castles for the Gladiator Arena. The kids, in particular, loved it.
To Abby for running the ice cream stall.
To Lewy for providing the material for the ‘slip and slide’ and for James B and Joe for setting it up. Any spectators who witnessed the after-game frolics thereon will need some serious therapy if they are ever to cancel out some of those images!
To George for diligently ensuring that no VRFC shirts were lost as ‘tour souvenirs’!
Ventnor RFC are not responsible for the content or security of external links provided for information on websites outside of ventnorrfc.com.