A much changed Sandown & Shanklin side braved the conditions of storm Bert and travelled to Gosport. The game began as a very cagey affair with the terrible conditions making it difficult for either side to get much continuity. Ill discipline from the Hurricanes allowed the home side to take advantage with some excellent territorial kicking, being backed up by a well functioning set piece. This enabled the hosts to convert frequent visits to the red zone into points. Sandown found themselves defending for large periods of the half with Wightfibre Man of the Match Harry Misselbach getting through what can only be described as a colossal amount of tackling. Attacking opportunities were few and far between as many attacks began deep inside Sandown’s own half. Hard running centre Rob Newton made some well earned yards only for the weather to intervene, making handling errors a common feature after a few phases. The visitors lost winger George Finan just before the end of the half. The only brief break from the terrible conditions came at half time with both teams electing to go back in for the break.

The second half brought some welcome spells of possession for the away side, however much like the first half the play was deep into their own half. Another new debutant, Jack Davey entered the fray to start the second half. With high winds making it difficult to both kick and
win the subsequent line out, the visitors elected to up the tempo with quick tap penalties. Strong carries from Michael Barrett and Zak Chiverton started to help get the away side up the field but once again handling errors halted any momentum as soon as play threatened to get going. Things would only go from bad to worse for the away side as the battle of attrition started to tell with injuries adding up, Ben Booth and debutant Jevon Dry forced from the field. More problems at the set piece allowed the home side to capitalise often scoring off of their strong forwards pack efforts.

Due to the effects of storm Bert, the decision was made with both captains in agreement with the referee, to call the game early due to the growing lack of visibility. The score may have been one sided as the home side were more comfortable managing the tricky conditions but
take nothing away from the effort and commitment of the travelling players. The Hurricanes next league fixture is at home on the 7th December where they will entertain Guernsey 2's.

SSRFC Director of Rugby, Keith Wallace, shared his thoughts post game:
“A very difficult day at the office, in some really testing conditions. Was nice to see something that new lads are making the step up to this level from the 2's or as new signings, and continue to test themselves further".
Line up

1. A. Tyas, 2. B. Kulik, 3. B. Booth, 4. B. Shannon, 5. R. Mundell, 6. Z. Chiverton (C), 7. H. Misselbach, 8. M. Barrett; 9. B. Bridgeman, 10. T. Marriott, 11. G. Finan, 12. J. Dry, 13. R. Newton, 14. C. Little, 15. S. Tyson
Replacements: 16. J. Davey, 17. G.Shannon, 18. E.Gurling