Match report Lymington Mariners Rugby Club 26-5 Ventnor Rugby Club Combined XV Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 6 September 2025
Ventnor continued their pre-season warm up with a friendly game at Lymington Mariners where the Islanders continued to experiment with their new formations and style of play.
At kick off it was obvious that Lymington’s game plan was to gain territory with the boot as they had the advantage of the wind but this tactic which was well marshalled by Tom Crews with excellent support from Ben Cooper and Hayden Lythgoe – the latter on debut.
But as Ventnor began to find their shape they were undone by missed tackles around the side of a ruck thus allowing a soft try. Ventnor then went toe to toe with Lymington with Jack Rushton – putting in another big shift – Jewy Jones and Dan Lythgoe holding firm in the scrums and Joe Coghlan and Lewis Morton dominating the lineouts.
Ben Souter at scrumhalf was his usual live-wire self, constantly harrying the opposition and providing clean ball to his fly-half Max Wheeler. Ventnor were keen to run everything to accustom themselves to their new patterns but tended to let runners get isolated which allowed the opposition to get over the ball and force penalties.
Tom Branagh and Alec Bulpitt combined well in both attack and defence and Branagh had a couple of bruising runs before having to leave the field with a leg injury. Ventnor went close several times with Jason Coltham making strong inroads but it was Lymington who ended the half with a quickly taken penalty from their scrumhalf.
Halftime score 12 – 0
Ventnor made whole scale changes as the second half kicked off and Luke Butler was able to use the wind to gain territory. Josh Braham – playing his first game for Ventnor – showed well in attack and defence (including a try-saving tackle) and Joel Cocks (on for the excellent Harvey Wheeler) soon found his feet in the unaccustomed position in the pack. J
ack Gilbey took over at hooker and the scrum still had an edge – so much so that Souter was able to set up a position from which Coltham almost scored. The ball was recycled and Dan Lythgoe was held up but Souter got the ball away to Butler who flicked it on to Crews who backhanded it to Hayden Lythgoe dived over to score.
Things were going well for the Islanders as Ewan Castle made some strong runs and Tony Jacobson once more impressed with his pace and commitment.
However, Ventnor were undone by two late tries – one when Lymington’s winger scored up the right despite a foot in touch and another awarded after a clear knock on in the build up.
Final score 26 – 5
It was another promising showing for Ventnor, who welcome Lymington Mariners for a return fixture on Saturday 13th September at Watcombe with a kick-off at 15:00
Team: Rushton, Jones, D. Lythgoe, Coltham, N. Frampton, Coghlan, L. Morton (capt), H. Wheeler, Souter, M. Wheeler, Cooper, Bulpitt, Branagh, H. Lythgoe, Crews.
Subs: Gilbey, Edwards, Castle, Cocks, Butler, Jacobson, Braham, Fox
The A J Wells Man of the Man – Jason Coltham
The Red Funnel Moment of the Match – Joel Cocks
The Howden Insurance Supporter of the Day: Andy Wall and Sam Frampton
Travelling Coaches: Clive Cardwell-Hill and Andy Teague.
Best Regards
James
JAMES MORTON
Chairman Ventnor RFC
T: 07901 938 317
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