Hurricanes Old Boys Seal Victory

Sandown & Shanklin RFC 2nd XV defeat Farnham RFC 4th XV 41-10

Another good weekend for the Hurricanes with both teams earning emphatic victories for the second successive week in a row.

The Sandown & Shanklin RFC 2nd XV had to face a tough Farnham RFC 4th XV to make it two wins in a row at the Fairway. With a strong pack and a weight advantage up front, the first few scrums were dominated by Sandown & Shankin. This provided them good possession off first phase, and then into open play. Returning veteran prop Andrew John received a pop off the halfback and after barreling over the guard, he was clean through to score the first points of the game.
The second converted try of the day came shortly after when man mountain No 8 Greg Dean picked up from the ruck to smash through the fullback and over the line. The scoring continued from here on into half time at a similar pace. Strong runs from both man of the match Dan Sayers and Rob Newton both causing issues for the Farnham defence. The first half scoring was completed by visitors, who scored their first points of the match through some good team play with slow ball from the forwards. Then with the ball spread wide, eventually scoring in the far corner.

Following the break Farnham continued where they left off in the first half and were fairing better than the home side in the early stages of the second half. With this possession they tried to unleash their danger-man, a pacy, strong outside centre. However, this was to no avail as he was stopped at every opportunity by the resilient rush defence from the hosts. Notably numerous last ditch tackles from fullback Sam Buckingham and debutante stand off Ben Sanderson. The Hurricanes regained composure and after the sustained pressure managed to put some second half points on the board through a Dean pick and go, for his second of the game. The last successful conversion of the game came after this try from captain Liam Little. With the clock running down the travelling team were making more errors, knocking the ball on in their own 22 and after not killing the ball, this allowed Man if the Match Andrew ‘Taff’ John run in his second of the game. This was closely followed by Sanderson stepping his way through the backline of visitors defence and sprinting in from 40 yards for his first points in a Sandown & Shanklin shirt. Final result 41 - 10 for the Hurricanes.

A decent victory for the Hurricanes bumping them up the table and setting them up nicely for Gosport & Fareham Pirates next weekend.
The 2nd XV continue to look to climb their way up the Hampshire Division 4 table.