Hurricanes put in a valiant display, against the odds!

Despite travelling with only 10 players, Sandown & Shanklin RFC put in a gusty performance and pushed Farnborough RFC.

With the best preparation for most games, the Hurricanes 2nd XV valiant battled on this weekend, despite their leader Simon Swallow absent. The Sandown & Shanklin posse travelled to Farnborough RFC who sit near the top of table with two victories from two.
Only in the sport and spirit of rugby would you manage to pick up a keen player on the way to a game, and also be allowed to borrow a few players from your hosts, however, all in the spirit of the game, this allowed a rather even game to take place.

As the rain held off, the ground was still very wet and slippery, not the ideal conditions. And with the team still gelling together from a 30 minute warm up, the Hurricane XV got off to a slow start, as Farnborough broke the line and scored in the corner, a tidy conversion gave the hosts a 7-0 lead. What followed was a very even 15 minute spell between the sides. The ferocious tackling of Sam Lock keeping the Farnborough carriers at bay. With quick and clean line out possession from Damian Seder, and Sam Lock, this gained a foothold in the game for Sandown & Shanklin, as the home side infringed at the maul and the breakdown, it allowed the visitors to creep into the opposition territory. With Liam Little keeping play at the base of the ruck fluid, it allowed guest fly half Ed Blake to feed his back line and get the ball wide. The handling was impressive in spite of the conditions. Finally with the pressure telling, Kan, a borrowed player from Farnborough, borrowed over for the Hurricanes, and with the conversion going wide, the game was on (7-5)! The carrying from Damian Seder coming to the fore, along with the pace and quick wittedness of Charles Little and Harry Fyfe keeping the Hurricanes on the front foot.
The hosts struck back with another try, 12-5, but could not convert and finished the half ahead, despite the play being relatively even between the two sides.

With the home side wanting to mix up their players some more, they took back the players they lent and swapped them around. The second half got off to a better start for Sandown & Shanklin, as Zak Chiverton bustled through the line, to then score under the posts. Flux converted and the game was all tied at 12-12 all. Nevertheless, the home side woke up a bit, and took the game away from the visitors, with two unanswered scores stretching the outside defences, 22-12.
A break in play was caused, following the impressive Sam Lock taking a knock, and having to come off the field. This resulted in the game moving to the Farnborough 2nd pitch. Despite being a couple of men down, the Hurricanes rallied and some impressive line-out into maul work from Peter Swallow and Jack Winter took the visitors up to the 5m line. With the try line beckoning pick and goes took the side up to the try and line, and a quick thinking Charles Little dived under the posts to score. Even with the resilience on show the home side scored two more tries in the dying moments of the game to secure the result.

All in all, a great game of rugby was played between the two teams, and a great showing by the boys from the Island. Undeterred by the odds against them, they played with real spirit and tenacity, in keeping with the Hurricane way.

The 2nd XV now look forward to a home fixture next weekend to Romsey 2nd XV, we hope you can come and join us for another exciting fixture!