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A XV
Matches
Sat 26 Oct 2019  ·  Hampshire 2
Isle of Wight II
5
41
Havant Rugby Football Club
A XV
Tries: M Bacon, A Terry, S Wilson, L Davies, M Sampson (3)Conversions: M Sampson (3)
Isle of Wight 2's 5 - 41 Havant AXV

Isle of Wight 2's 5 - 41 Havant AXV

Mick Bacon27 Oct 2019 - 21:56

Sampson Boys in tune as they sing a birthday song

As the Wightlink Fast Cat set sail for Ryde pier, James Hewitt and his AXV merry men assembled to take on Isle of Wight 2’s. Wootton Bridge was the destination as the wind blew and the sea swelled. Faithfull backs and ethnic’s Dean Duthie and Adam Taff Terry looked a bit green as the waves pounded the side of the boat but they held on to their breakfast long enough to board dry land. Another tough week in selection saw Hewitt struggle again as injuries and mysterious illness’s are again common place at the club . The season looked to be full of choice and availability for the Master Mariner , but this week he was sticking pages back into the famous black book that had previously been removed due to retirements . Adam King is battling his way back to good health, back beating the Havant drum and no doubt instrumental in helping Hewitt fill the team sheet .
This week’s main selection headache was in the front row, and it was Club Legend and 57 year old Steve Walsh that got the call , although having not have pulled on the sacred shirt for 2 years and no longer owning any boots ,Walsh could not turn down the opportunity to fulfil his decade long dream to play alongside his two stepsons Lloyd and Miles Sampson. You could see the pride and emotion in the Old warriors face as he walked out with the young lads. Hewitt himself was again at hooker alongside The Lord Mayor Sam Wilson.
New recruit and Man of the match Tom Bates lined up in the second row with the returning Andy Sowerby , Harry Parker was recalled to 7 to play alongside Steve whittle at 6 and Mick Bacon at 8. Matt Davis was back from his weekend of charity work and started at scrum half, youngster Luca Leopoldo took the reigns at Fly half under the watchful eye of the experienced Leighton Davies, Birthday Boy Lloyd Sampson was back with his midfield Partner at 13 and dejected kiwi Buster Osbourne came into the international back line with Dean Duthie and Taff Terry.
The warm up was far from warm , the wind howled and the rain poured, and as you would expect the arms folded and the teeth of the backs Chattered while the forwards got on with the job in hand . Havant won the toss and Hewitt chose to play the first half with the strong wind advantage . IOW kicked off , and Havant gathered, with conditions getting worse the Havant Pack kept the ball close and recycled well , finally the good early simple rugby paid off and Havant won a penalty as IOW where penalised for going over the top , Lloyd Sampson struck a long kick down wind to within 15 m. Bates won the lineout well as Sowerby secured the ball and formed the maul , as Havant drove the first 5meters, Bacon picked up the ball at the back and bullied the ball over the line from 10 meters with good support from Duthie. A poor restart from IOW lead to immediate pressure from Havant , a good take from talisman Matt Davis started the attack, as he was tackled Whittle and Parker were quick to support and Havant recycled with some neat pick and go’s , Sowerby, was first to handle Davis’s nice ball, followed by Master, Bates then Walsh , Davis was now back to his feet and eager release his now wet slippery ball into the path of the waiting Leopaldo as Leighton Davies came crashing through the IOW back line , he released Terry for a welsh 1-2 and Havant were over again for another 5 points . Lloyd Sampson again struggled with the wind but Havant were 0–10 up.
The early dominance, clearly caused Havant to drop their guard a little and take the home side a little too lightly, IOW were up for the fight , a good 5 minutes of play by the Islanders paid dividend as Havant were caught napping , a succession of tackles were missed and the deficit was closed to 5 points after the home side also failed to convert .
Havant responded well as the pitch started to churn up and become heavy . Immediate pressure following the restart, lead to both sides losing and regaining the ball on a number of occasions , Havant won the subsequent scrum folowing a knock on and attacked down hill to the right , some good running from Osbourne bought the ball inside from the wing , Davis was quick again to get the ball moving following some good rucking and Wilson burst through the gap to run the ball home from 30 yards and open up the lead again for the away side. The right honourable Mr Wilson who is believed to work on his speed training whilst wearing his Livery Collar , was like lightening without the heavy gold chains around his neck and the IOW defence were left standing to touch down one of the highlight try's of the season so far . Lloyd Sampson was not having a birthday to remember from the kicking tee as he again pushed the ball wide in the swirling wind .
Half Time Isle of Wight 2’s 5-15 Havant AXV
Havant would have liked to have a slightly bigger lead going into the second half, IOW would surely try and use the wind to their advantage like the away team did in the first half , but it ended up playing into the AXV’s hands. Changes were made, you could see a tear in Walshy’s eyes as Miles Sampson joined the attack alongside his “Baby” brother Lloyd , as he replaced the oddly very quiet New Zealander Osbourne on the right wing , Nick Benjamin came in at 9 for Davis but the Havant forwards were feeling dominant , Bacon, whittle and Bates continued to batter the home team back and recycle the ball well with great support from the rest ofthe team , Benjamin sniped well around the fringes and sucked the home team in , Leighton Davies started off the second half scoring following a great turn over in the forwards ,he finished off a good back line move involving Duthie and L Sampson to extend the lead , again the extras were missed.
But it was now time for the Sampson show ,Lloyd the provider and Miles the finisher as the ball was called green Benjamin started the move to Leopaldo,then Davies, Terry and L Sampson fed the ball out to Miles Sampson on the wing as he left the Home team standing in the mud , He touched the ball down, quickly checked his Instagram account and re done his hair before taking over the kicking duties from his sibling Lloyd and extending the lead by 7 points.
Further Changes were made , Walsh left the field after 60 minutes after a solid performance to show the youngsters there is still life in the old dog , and further cement his legendary status , Sowerby filled In the front row, and Whittle moved inside to partner Bates, Andy woolhead made his first appearance of the season and slotted in at 6 , and Matt Davis returned to the field to replace young gun Leopaldo and finish the game at 10. With Both teams tiring , Havant just moved up a gear , the pace of the two wingers was too much for the Islanders once Havant got the ball out wide , still struggling to break down the Havant defence in their own attack just left space to exploit in the home teams back line, M Sampson completed his brace and then his Hat-trick with a masterclass of finishing on the right , again converting both with difficult kicks . Dean Duthie also came close after his second 70 meter kick and chase in as many weeks , but was deemed to have knocked on as he grounded the ball, disappointment for the Scotsman after an excellent performance . As the final whistle blew there was not a sign of the Havant blue and white hoop on show as the muddy Havant men trudged off the field , a proper game of grass roots rugby , played by both sides with true rugby spirit.
Final score Isle of Wight 2’s 5 – 41 Havant AXV

Match details

Match date

Sat 26 Oct 2019

Kickoff

TBC

Competition

Hampshire 2

League position

3
Havant III
12
Isle of Wight II
Further reading