ROMSEY Rugby Club’s head coach John Lee picked a strong side to face the Isle of Wight in a game which began under brisk sunshine. Romsey started the game with fire in their bellies, immediately put pressure upon the Island side. A kick to touch gave Romsey an attacking lineout. With player/coach Ben Hewitt throwing in and Macca Campbell soaring into the air to snatch it from the clutches of the home side, Romsey were on the ascendancy.

Another penalty was kicked into the corner and again Romsey won the lineout. Island conceded another penalty. Captain Graham Lusty decided to go for the points, the tee was brought on the field and Toby Bull stepped up to notch the points for Romsey.

From the restart the home side started probing the visitors defence, which held strong. After a quick ruck, Island spun it out wide where Gavin Harbour showed savvy in closing quickly and making the tackle.

Romsey soon turned the ball over and cleared for touch. But after a series of sustained phases Island got enough space and they crossed the whitewash via a driving maul. They missed the conversion bu the score was IoW 5 – Romsey 3 Island, buoyed up by their recent try, drove down the field again. Unfortunately for Romsey, Gavin Harbour caught his head on an opponent, and fell to the floor. Physio Edge Van Zyl was quickly out on to the field to check on his charge. Harbour was taken to hospital, but fortunately was able to return with his teammates on the ferry later that evening.

The game continued, but it was clear to observers that the Romsey players were distracted by what had happened to their teammate. Ben Coggins had come on to replace the injured Harbour, and was quickly put into the fire with play coming his way. Coggins kept his feet moving and nailed his man, who put in an off-load. Thankfully, covering Romsey defenders came round and joined in for support.

A Romsey scrum gave Heighway an opportunity to break down the right. Heighway offloaded to Coggins, who spurted down the wing. Beating the first opponent, Coggins passed inside to Graham Lusty. In receiving the pass Lusty knocked the ball on.

Heighway was also involved in another move. Breaking free down the left this time, He passed to galloping full-back Dan Penn-Newman. Unfortunately the pass was too strong.

The half ended 12-3 The second was higher intensity than the first, both teams going head to head with physicality. Romsey’s lineout was winning ball on both their own and the opposition’s ball. Heighway and Bull were pinning the Island back with precision kicking for territory. Island ran it back but conceded a penalty. Bull kicked for the corner, the resultant lineout was won clean and passed out to the backs.

Bull, spotting space behind the Island defence, floated a gorgeous cross-field kick over the top of onrushing defenders. The ball landed and skittered across the pitch’s surface and bounced perfectly into hands of waiting winger Will Farthing to touchdown for the try.

Bull netted the conversion, bringing the score to 12-10. Romsey continued to build pressure. looking for those points that would seal the win. With strong carries from Phil Cunningham and Sam Swinstead Romsey probed. When Island countered the muscle of Frankie Powell-Wright and Darren Hall kept the fringes secure and Alex Lee and Jake Dugdale kept the centre solid.

But with all of Romsey’s subs used up, the onslaught took its toll and the Island team were not done with their scoring, and netted a further two tries with smashing moves creating holes for other players to swoop through for the score.

Romsey lost the game 26-10 but can take away lots of positives from this game. The forwards worked really well and provided a strong platform for the backs to work from. The downside is a lack of a killer instinct and clinical finishing that other teams have. Coach John Lee said this will come with confidence, which is down at the moment, but the tighter scoreline showed signs of improvement from the demoralising loss in the cup.

Romsey’s next and final game before the Christmas break is away against Fordingbridge.