Hurricanes win on the Road

Chineham RFC 8 - 38 Sandown & Shanklin RFC

This week Sandown & Shanklin RFC travelled away to Basingstoke to face the a Chineham side which finished just below the Hurricanes in the league last season. Buoyed by their first win of this season against Romsey RFC, SSRFC travelled with enthusiasm and for their second away game of the season.

Throughout the warm-up it was clear to both sides that the conditions were going to make it difficult to play any wide rugby, with two heavy downpours making the pitch slippery and handling tricky. The game kicked off however, in bright sunshine and with the home side electing to play down the hill, it was evident that the travelling Hurricanes were going to have to work hard for the first 40 minutes. Although, almost immediately from the restart the ball was recycled and the SSRFC forward pack had already found themselves in the Chineham 22, applying pressure to the opposition line out. A knock-on then resulted in a scrum to the home side. With the pressure coming on from the Hurricanes front five. Henry Bagnall deployed on the blindside flank this week, pressured the Chineham fly-half and charged down his clearance kick. Unfortunately Bagnall was unable to recover the ball and dot down over the try line, resulting in another scrum for the home side, this time, managing to clear their lines. From the following line out the Hurricanes were able to rebuild their attack, and again with some hard yards made through the forwards, found themselves just outside the opposition 22, this time the opposition infringing, as they ventured offside. The consequential penalty was duly slotted by Joel Carey - to produce an early 0-3 lead.
From the restart, the Hurricanes failed to clear their line effectively and when Chineham gained a penalty, they elected to level up the scores at 3-3. From the restart, possession was retrieved and following slick handling from centres David Graham and Matt Miselbach put winger Harvey Kirkby into space and he carried the ball up the wing and into Chineham territory. With the opposition defence in array, some quick interplay between the forwards then allowed the ball to be shipped wide to Man of the Match Sam Tyson who scored the first of the match, which was converted by Joel Carey for 3-10 lead. Again, from the restart, the slippery ball caused havoc and despite clearing their lines this time, the Hurricanes were put under a little more pressure from the Chineham side that had been fired up from going behind. The half was closed out, as a strong Chineham scrum got them close to the try line, and some impressive passing down the line garnered the opportunity for the winger to get over in the far corner, with the conversion unsuccessful - the half ended 8-10 to the visitors.

The game resumed with the weather conditions holding up and the home side taking the game to the Hurricanes. With the game being played in the middle of the pitch the Hurricanes forward pack to take strangle hold of the game. After some strong carrying from David Woolfenden and Luke Hunter, quick possession was generated and Joel Carey was able to kick to the corners and get the SSRFC forwards in place to apply pressure to the Chineham set piece. As the ball was knocked on at the line out, the resulting SSRFC scrum was set and driven over the line for penalty try, creating a 8-17 lead. Following the Chineham restart the same tactic was applied and again with strong carrying from Man of the Match Sam Flux, and a clever snipe from scrum-half Jacob Jordan moved the Hurricanes into the Chineham 22. Another strong drive from the SSRFC forward eight accrued another seven point - penalty try, swinging the momentum fully toward the away side - now with a 8-24 lead.
With the home sides discipline costing them at the breakdown and with offsides, the Hurricanes were capable of pushing deep into the Chineham territory. Off the back of a solid 20 metre line-out catch and drive, the maul was pulled down, and a few pick and goes edged the away side closer to the try line. David Woolfenden then popped up with the ball and dived over the line for the try and the Bonus Point. The following restart was kicked straight to the rampaging Sam Flux, who dummied through the defensive line and continued to carry the ball into the Chineham half, and then managed to offload to the supporting Harrison Booth. Harrison was then brought down just outside the opposition 22. Jacob Jordan then gathered the ball and darted through the defensive line to score his second try in as many games.
Following the restart young Harry Hooper, making his debut for Sandown & Shanklin gathered the ball, and carried aggressively into the Chineham defence, the ball was spun wide to Michael Barrett who dashed down the wing. He was unfortunately knocked into touch and the game finished 8-38 to the away side.
The Hurricanes now sit in third place in Snows Group Hampshire 1 and now have a three until their next fixture, away to high flying Petersfield.

SSRFC XV: 1. Christopher Skelley, 2. Adam Tyas, 3. David Woolfenden , 4. Luke Hunter, 5. Sam Flux, 6. Henry Bagnall, 7. Harrison Booth, 8. Sam Rees ; 9. Jacob Jordan, 10. Joel Carey, 11. Michael Barrett, 12. David Graham, 13. Matt Miselbach, 14. Harvey Kirkby, 15. Sam Tyson
Replacements: 16. David Greenough, 17. Jonathan Holmes, 18. Harry Hopper