RUGBYIW 36, Verwood 5
THE IW enjoyed a comfortable victory in their first Hampshire Division 2 match.
From the off, they applied pressure on their visitors and, after an early Gareth Paisley penalty, the IW extended their lead when Nathan Tombleson crashed over for a converted try. Shortly after, Lymington Precision Enginering man of the match Adam Leal made an outstanding break to set up a scrum close to the visitors’ line and from this, Andy White crashed over, with the conversion added.
Keeping on the pressure, the IW continued to attack Verwood’s line but the half ended in farce after White’s second try was cancelled following an altercation, in which a player from each side was sin-binned.
This galvanised the home side as the start of the second half saw a rampant IW add to their score from the off. A Neil Brading break, supported by Leal, set up Puckett to score and Paisley added the kick.
Verwood upped their play and scored an unconverted try but the IW had the last word with tries from Ian Rock and debutant Sandy Wilson.
IW: Crossland, Newnham, Brown, Church, Thomas, White, Leal, Puckett, Cotter, Brading, Rock, Paisley, Tombleson, Curran, Gates, Lillington, Wilson, Metcalfe.