The day was started with an impressive Christmas lunch, provided as usual by Club Chef Jimmy Martin. This was also the last game before the Christmas break when we return on Saturday 4th January when the 1’s are away to Basingstoke. It was a very windy day with the wind going from West to East, although it was cold at least the rain held off.
Portsmouth won the toss and elected to play with the wind in the hope that by the second half it had been forecast to decrease in strength.
From the start Portsmouth pressed the Sandown try line, keeping play in their half. Penalties against Portsmouth saw Sandown kicking to touch but into the wind they were unable to make much headway. A penalty against Sandown saw Jas Solanki taking a kick at goal from wide out and the kick went in off the post giving Portsmouth a 3-0 lead on about 4 minutes.
There followed a period of play between to two 22’s with both sides experiencing handling problems caused by the strength of the wind. Even kicking was not straight forward as with the wind kicks had to be not too hard and against the wind they had to be kept low and fairly short in distance. Eventually the stalemate was broken when Portsmouth set up an attacking move that saw Luke Simmons, playing in the centre, make a good break and going through a couple of tackles he crashed over for the first try of the match close to the touch line. The conversion failed and the lead was now 8-0, on about 15 minutes.
The Portsmouth forwards were now beginning to control the scrums, often pushing Sandown off their ball or disrupting their delivery. Portsmouth were on the score board again when another good break saw No. 6 Chandler cross for their second try. This time Solanki was on target with a difficult kick and they now led 15-0 with about 10 minutes of the half remaining. The score board wasn’t troubled again as the first half ended shortly after.
The second half got underway with the wind still blustery. 44 minutes into the second half Portsmouth set up a good attack through their 3’s with some slick handling which saw the ball end up with fullback Alex Randall taking it at speed to crash over in the corner. The conversion missed and the score was now 20-0. Nearly 10 minutes later and a loose ball was kicked downfield by Sandown and in the confusion they won the race to touch down. The conversion was good and the score was now 20-7.
For a period Portsmouth looked as though they were going to be in a bit of a fight as mistakes began to let them down. Portsmouth were then reduced to 14 with a yellow card to Lee Chandler. Shortly after this there was a moment of magic when following up a kick upfield Matt Higgins out jumped the opposition to snatch ball from his grasp and then race away to dot down under the posts. Solanki made sure of the conversion and the score was now 27-7 with about 10 minutes remaining. This was their 4th try, giving them a much need bonus point. As the game drew to its conclusion there was another rather strange moment when Portsmouth kicked up field and two players followed up, as the ball went into the in goal area it looked as though it was going dead and everyone, including the lone opposition player, slowed down. Then suddenly Solanki saw that the ball had almost stopped short of the dead ball line and he raced through to score the final try of the game. He was unable to convert his try and the score was now 32-7 with the final whistle going shortly after. A great way to start the Christmas break with no games until 4th January 2025.
This was also a great way to reward two players in todays game, Aaron Beesley, 1st XV Capt. as he played his 50th league and cup game and the ever present Anthony Fooks who reached an incredible 200th appearance today in league and cup matches. There was a presentation in the Clubhouse after for the two players which was made by Club President Nigel Morgan.
The forwards were pretty dominant throughout the match and the backs looked good both in attack and defence. This win sees Portsmouth move up 1 place to 6th. on 30 points, Sandown & Shanklin are still in 5th on 35 points. Our next opponents, Basingstoke, are in 4th place on 39 points after losing to Ellingham & Ringwood 10-20.
TEAM
LIAM AVIS, BRAD ATKINS, ADAM PARKS-DARE
ALEX HIGSON, VINNIE JEFFERIES
ANT.FOOKS, LIAM GLAZEBROOK, AARON BEESLEY(C)
GEORGE WRIGHT, JAS SOLANKI
HARVEY FIELD, SAM OLIE, LUKE SIMMONS, BRAD JEWER
ALEX RANDALL
BENCH
LEE CHANDLER, WILL DALZIEL, MATT HIGGINS