The Hurricanes were back at home on Saturday, as they welcomed Trojans RFC to the Fairway Ground, for round seven of Counties 1 Hampshire action.

It didn't take long for the hosts to get the opening score of the game and begin to rectify some of the wrongs from their previous two defeats. Quick possession was provided off the top of the first lineout of the game, and as the ball moved it's way into midfield, centre Luke Wedderkop sped through a gap in the defence and sprinted home. Burr converted for an early, 7 - 0 lead.

The Hurricanes second score of the afternoon was too much time after their first. Strong carries from Shannon, Carew and Wightfibre Man of the Match, Ben Kulik, got the hosts into the Trojans 22. The Sandown forwards were causing the away sides issues, and with their defence focussed on the big carries, they neglected to identify the deft snipe by scrum half Tom Marriott to pick from the base of the ruck and dive over. Burr's resulting conversion missed, 12 - 0.

The treble was completed within fifteen minutes. The home side again working their way into the away side half, and noticing a gap in the backfield, Ant Burr put in a perfectly judged grubber kick for speedster Ash Smith to collect and dash home to score, 19 - 0.

It wasn't all the Hurricanes way in the opening quarter, as the away side capitalised on poor discipline from the home side and made their way into the Sandown 22. After a few more penalties, eventually Trojans manufactured an overlap for their prop to score in the corner, 19 - 5.

Sandown continued to pressurise and threaten and by the half hour mark, and the try bonus point secured, with their fourth try of the afternoon. More forward pressure saw the Hurricanes test the resolve of the Trojans defence, and eventually the pressure told as Michael Barrett powered over to dot down, Burr converting to put Sandown, 26 - 5, ahead.

The final score of the first half went the way of the visitors. They had managed to pull a number of phases together and with some more poor discipline from the Hurricanes, Trojans scored their second try of the afternoon, again out wide, and the conversion missing as a result. This left the score at the interval, 26 - 10.

The second half resumed and with Director of Rugby Keith Wallace making some changes, the Hurricanes momentum didn't seem to falter. As the Sandown forward tied in the Trojans defence it left space outside. Burr fed his outside backs who found the returning Max Fletcher, who in spaces stepped and printed home from 50 metres out. Burr converted Fletcher's try to extend the Sandown margin, 33 - 10.

Moments later the Hurricanes were threatening again, and after a superb line break from Wedderkop, he offloaded to the charging Kulik, who then offloaded to replacement Jacob Jordan who then found Marriott, who stepped and sprinted home for his second score of the afternoon. Burr again converting, 33 - 10.

The visitors managed to score their third try of the afternoon, 33 - 15, but this did not falter the Hurricanes momentum, who went on to score a quickfire double in the space of three minutes, from the restart. The high kick off was slapped back by Chiverton, to young second row Damian Seder. Seder then offloaded to Chiverton and who held up more defenders before finishing is one-two with Seder and offloading back to the lock who sprinted away from the straggling defence to score under the posts, 47 - 15.
From the resulting Trojans restart the ball was reclaimed and fed to Barrett, who made a half break and managed to offload to the energetic Jordan. Jordan then capitalised on the break and sprinted into the Trojans half, he then offloaded to Smith who used his speed to fully accelerate away from the defence for his second try of the game, 54 - 15.

A third try in a spell of around five minutes was scored by flanker Michael Barrett for his second of the afternoon. The Sandown forwards went through their phases around the halfway line, and prop Ben Shannon fed Barrett on a short line, which cut the Trojans defence in half. Barrett then put on the afterburners to outstrip the defence to score. 61 - 15.
As the game ticked into the final ten minutes, the discipline of the Hurricanes began to falter. Rob Eston was shown a yellow card and sent to the sin-bin, perhaps guilty by association, as it may have been another Hurricanes player who had infringed.
This period of pressure saw the Trojans forward power over in the corner, to garner them a try bonus point for their fourth try of the afternoon, 61 - 20.

From the Hurricanes restart, the ball bounced right off the Trojans players' chest and forwards, to a grateful chasing Sam Tyson, who collected the ball and jogged under the visitors posts to score, a try which seemed to sum up the visitors afternoon, 68 - 20.
The following Trojans restart was collected by Ben Shannon, who fed Barrett, and as the Hurricanes looked to play out of their half, a looping miss pass from Barrett was picked off by the Trojans centre, who gratefully collected the looping pass to secure the Trojans a fifth try, 68 - 27.

The final score of the afternoon fell the way of the hosts. With a tap penalty in the Trojans 22, this was taken quickly and the charging Sam Thomas fed the ball to carry into the opposition defence. The ball was spread wide quickly, with some passes going to the floor. The ball was claimed by centre Luke Wedderkop who charged through the defence, and a clever over the shoulder offload found winger Chris Omerod. The winger then offloaded smartly to Fletcher, who had an easy walk into the corner for his second try of the afternoon, 73 - 27.

Keith Wallace, Sandown & Shanklin RFC, Director of Rugby shared his thoughts after the final whistle:
"Two great victories today. The 1st XV continued their good attacking form scoring 11 tries today, with some real champagne rugby that was highlight reel worthy.

I am very pleased with the 2nc XV, they had their toughest test of the season so far, with a big top of the table clash. They had to dig deep at times, nevertheless, their continued commitment paid dividends towards the end, managing to run away with it, with some exciting play"

1. Ben Shannon, 2. Ben Kulik, 3. Darren Carew, 4. Luke Hunter, 5. Damian Seder, 6. Michael Barrett, 7. Sam Thomas, 8. Zak Chiverton (C); 9. Tom Marriott, 10. Anthony Burr, 11. Chris Omerod, 12. Rob Eston, 13. Luke Wedderkop, 14. Ashley Smith, 15. Sam Tyson
Replacements: 16. Chris Skelley, 17. Jacob Jordan, 18. Max Fletcher