Hurries work hard for win

HURRICANES opened their London South West 3 campaign with a win at the Fairway — but were made to work hard for it by newly promoted Old Blues.

Without much pre-season action under their belts, Sandown dominated the match in the first half before the Blues, coached by ex-Harlequins player Simon Dear, opened up the game in the second half to push the hosts all the way.

It was only the sharp kicking skills of super sub Neil Buckingham which put distance between the sides, as he kept advantage for the Hurricanes.

The game was scoreless until the half-hour mark, both sides missing opportunities to open their accounts with penalty kicks early on. The Hurricanes were certainly dominating up front and it was from their strong play in the ruck and maul, which earned them a penalty in the 35th minute. Will Baxandall duly converted.

However, almost immediately, Old Blues woke up and, after driving from a lineout close to the Hurricanes’ line, they charged over for an unconverted try.

After the break, Old Blues kept up the momentum and began to open up the match with some nice attacking rugby. But Hurricanes hit back hard, putting in the tackles and showing them that they, too, could run the ball. And it was from a great charge from Joe Rees, and his pass to the nippy scrum half Seb Corby, which saw them score their first try. Baxandall kicked a lovely conversion, and they were 10-5 up.

In an exciting passage of play, Old Blues came back again and, after a scrum close to the Hurricanes’ line, they charged over to level the scores. Missing the conversion meant Hurricanes were still in it and, after bringing on Buckingham, the game really swung in their favour. He immediately put his stamp on the game by kicking a penalty from within his own half.

After scoring the first of his two drop goals, Old Blues scored their third try of the game, but their kicking let them down once more and Hurricanes retained the lead.

Almost immediately after the restart, Buckingham scored his second and, despite Old Blues best efforts, piling on the pressure in the final minutes, the hosts held on for an important first win.

Sandown and Shanklin: Harris, Allman, Eldridge, Hunter, S. Rees, Booth, Bagnall, J. Rees, Corby, Baxandall, Chandler, Keyworth, Robinson, Muir, Wales. Subs: Tyas, Buckingham, Dove.

Tries: Corby
Convs: Baxendall
Pens: Baxendall, Buckingham
DGs: Buckingham(2)