RUGBYEllingham and Ringwood 35, Sandown and Shanklin 3
AFTER seven games in six weekends, injuries and absentees finally caught up with the Hurricanes — with influential stand-in captain Sam Rees suffering a suspected broken ankle in one of the final plays of the game.
The side travelled to Ringwood with a bare 15 players, including three first team debutants and many players having to play out of position.
The game started well, however, as the Hurricanes put immediate pressure on the Ellingham line.
After a succession of penalties for slowing the ball down, Will Baxandall opted for the kick at goal and put Sandown 3-0 up.
From the restart, Ellingham, returned the favour, putting pressure on the Hurries line but great tackling round the breakdown, particularly from Vikoma man of the match Ben Allman, kept them out.
The first half continued in much the same vein — with the Hurricanes pushing for the try line and then the ball coming back up the field and Ellingham pressing.
Debutant and Wightlink man of the match Seb Cusby played excellently, disrupting the Ellingham scrum half and slowing down possession to the dangerous backs.
Mid way through the first half, Ellingham found space on the blindside and quick hands gave the covering defence no chance as they crashed over for an unconverted score. The final score of the half came from an Ellingham penalty to make it 8-3.
The second half started with a triple blow for the Hurries.
From a strong hurries break into Ellingham's 22, a Sandown player suffered concussion before winger Luke Chandler suffered a knee injury after a late tackle. To make matters worse, Baxendall was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes for coming in the side of a ruck.
With two players walking wounded and one sunbathing on the sidelines, the Hurricanes battled against constant pressure from their opponents. Despite their numerical advantage, Ellingham could only knock over one further penalty 11-3 before Baxandall returned to the field.
Unfortunately, the battle had taken much out of the Hurries and, with 15 minutes left to go, Ellingham scored the first of four quick tries to put the game beyond the Hurricanes. And to add insult to a series of injuries, Sam Rees suffered his broken ankle.
Sandown have an immediate opportunity to put this painful defeat behind them as Ellingham travel to the Fairway Ground tomorrow (Saturday) for the return fixture.