Romsey 53 Ventnor 7

High flying Romsey produced a sparkling performance at Ganger Farm on Saturday as they continue their push for the League title. Harrison Scott’s Blue and Golds summoned up nine tries to brighten a dull afternoon to set up a “winner takes all” clash at first placed Andover on February 1st. A solitary point separates the two sides with just a handful of League games remaining.

Saturday’s opponents were Ventnor, a side that has caused Romsey problems in the past. Early exchanges suggested that these problems were destined to continue as the Isle of Wight outfit tackled hard and kept Romsey under pressure. The home side struggled to establish their rhythm and their opponents seemed determined to upend the form book.

Gradually, the back row of Harrison Scott, Ryan Daly and Brad Piper began to dominate in the loose, and Romsey went through the gears. Ventnor’s early resistance was broken in the second quarter as Romsey produced a four try blitz with scores by Jim Lamont, Ben Hoad, Oli Soundy and Mike Streicher.

With the bonus point already in the bag the home side would have been forgiven for taking things easy in the second half, but they scored two excellent tries immediately after the break. Ryan Daly produced a barnstorming run at the posts to rack up Romsey’s fifth try of the day. Moments later silken hands from centre Ben Powell allowed fly half Lamont to execute a perfect loop and his pass allowed Oli Soundy to crash over in the corner. Further tries by Davies, Lamont and Piper crowned a great day for Romsey. It is to Ventnor’s credit that they were able to get on the scoreboard in the final quarter, but this was emphatically Romsey’s day.

PARTY TIME!!

Jingle all the way to the Rugby Clubhouse for our Christmas PARTY!!

Please Join us for our Christmas Celebrations on December 14th.

Our Senor first team play at 2pm.

Festivities start at 4pm with the Michelmersh Silver band kicking things off in the Clubhouse.

Everyone is welcome.

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Please click the link. Some great prizes including tickets to England vs France in the 2025 Six Nations!!

https://romseyrugbyclub.rallyu…

In Support of our friends at Alfies Wish.

Thank you to those that have donated a prize. If anyone else would like to donate a prize then it would be much appreciated. Please let me know.

It would be great to see you there!!

While the Roms pull together their invading warband gathering around their portcullis battle standard, the weather hammers away at Portsmouth’s fleet, who are equally preparing for the upcoming assault. Led by the infamous commander, Harrison Scott, the Roms have been a force to be reckoned with. Most recently, decimating Aldershot and Fleet to take 3rd place.

With conditions having not improved, the travel wary Roms are poised to begin their assault. The vanguard general, Jim Lamont begins the attack by sending a flurry of arrows into the Portsmouth’s defence. This was sharply followed by a counterattack made by some of Portsmouth’s cavalry, turning the attackers into the defenders. The Roms were spirited and eager to turn this battle on its side. This moment came when commander, Harrison Scott, held strong and forced Portsmouth to crack. This gave Jim Lamont an opportunity to attack the heart of the fleet, which he did so with ease despite the heavy winds. 0-3, Romsey.

The battleground had taken a beating. Waves of Portsmouth counterattacks were shut out firmly by the portcullis the Romsey warband had created. Despite a few cracks in the battle due to various offsides, misplaced tackles, and scrappy rucks, the Roms persisted. They tried to find breaks in the Portsmouth defence, but it was a tight battle, with both sides’ defence holding strong. This was until the very moment that Jim Lamont, with absolutely zero help from the wind, kicked a 50-22. The Roms now had a good foothold, deep in Portsmouth territory. In only his second battle under the command of Harrison Scott, hooker Dylan Argent was young and hungry. With a change in tactics in the line, Michael Streicher took the charge from Dylan and made a clean break. The Portsmouth shield wall folded, and the Roms’ assault had took an exciting turn, 30 minutes in. 0-8 Romsey. In attempt to capitalise on this surge, Lamont took a punt, but due to the adverse conditions, his arrow was directed away. With 40 long, cold minutes endured, it was time to formalise the strategy for the duration of the battle.

The battle standards are reset, and Portsmouth try again to drive the invaders out. However, Romsey’s portcullis stayed held strong and they did not break. Instead, they turned the gears, and amounted another heavy assault. This time, the Roms’ top try scorer, Ian Milanak, broke the defensive lines. This sent the Pompey cavalry into panic. They tried several times to chop him down, but Milanak’s territorial gain had already pierced the soul of the fleet. Portsmouth managed to re-align, but not for long. Brilliant waves of attack and great handy work from Dylan Scott led to Oliver Soundy to charge at Portsmouth’s flank. 0-13 Romsey. Within minutes, Romsey’s top point scorer, Lamont, again capitalised on the crumbling Portsmouth defensive line to fire the ballista. Again, the fiery bolt found its target, 0-16.

Despite some emphatic charges from the likes of Harrison Scott, Ben Powell, and the fresh legs of Elliot Johnson, the Roms’ attack seemed to have come to a halt. Portsmouth felt like they may have been able to turn the tide of battle. However, due to the quick thinking of Tyler Beardsley who kicked his way deep into Portsmouth territory, he secured a scrum by carrying the Portsmouth fullback over his own line. The siege tower was set. 5 metres out, a Romsey scrum. Three waves of attack were shut out, but then the rearguard assault of Oliver Coburn broke the defensive line. 0-21 and the Roms had finally brought the Pompey wall crumbling down. A quick attack led by Lamount’s band was cut short due to Beardsley’s weapon of choice breaking. The Roms forced Pompey into a rout. Error after error, a grievous attack on Lamont led to a Pompey yellow. However, the siege had been completed. Due to a sturdy fortification being setup, The Romsey portcullis remained unbreeched. Portsmouth 0, Romsey 21.

Coaches comments
The lads really dug deep today in awful conditions they showed why we are pushing top of the league composure and patience was the ingredient today as well as building on our solid defence of late.

Captains thoughts
Thought we played well in tough conditions, Portsmouth is aways a hard place to play especially in the wet. The lads have put in a big shift the last 3 weeks to get 3 wins is a testament to our resolve

Saturday 29th September

Christchurch 18 – 18 Romsey

After a bruising season opener against Southampton, captain Harrison Scott led his troops through the New Forest to face a strong Christchurch team who fell short of a win by the narrowest of margins in their first game. With several key players injured in the hard-fought draw the previous week, Romsey’s squad included three debutants and more than a couple of grizzled veterans, the most infamous of whom was celebrating his 375^th 1^st team appearance – congratulations Nick Creal. 12 of the match day squad were not born when he first played for the 1s vs Rosslyn Park u21s back in April 1992. Knowing the team was unfamiliar with playing together, instructions from head coach Jason Berry were to fight for every yard and make use of the narrow pitch, taking any points available to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Romsey came flying out of the blocks, pinning Christchurch in their own half and forcing early penalties, one of which was converted by Aidan Cleland for a 3-0 lead. The set piece was much improved from the previous week, with hooker Alfie Lawrence providing excellent service in the line-out. Bolstered by this, captain Scott elected to kick for touch from another penalty and Romsey found themselves within 10m of the try line. This decision was rewarded as the forwards executed a catch and maul to perfection, with the strength of Ian Milanak and Elliott Johnson driving over to give Lawrence the first try of the game. With the conversion missed from out wide, Romsey now had an 8 point lead.

This lead was far from secure however as Christchurch began to switch things up, including a short restart which was excellently fielded by a soaring Caine Latham. Once Christchurch gained possession back, they spun the ball wide and a floated pass sent their winger over for an unconverted try. Alerted by this threat, Romsey reverted to their original gameplan and marched back down the pitch marshalled well by experienced 9-10 combo Ollie Soundy and Jim Lamont. A penalty in range of the posts was too tempting for Scott to dismiss and with a successful kick from Cleland, Romsey went into halftime with a deserved lead of 11-5.

Coach Jason Berry was pleased with the first half performance and encouraged his players to finish the job. Creal was substituted at this point, penalty free for the first time in 375 caps, as was winger Alex Watts who had a strong debut.

The second half began tense and cagey, with both sides defending well. As fatigue began to set in, Christchurch found themselves in the ascendency. After a period of sustained pressure, their centre burst his way through for a converted try to give them the lead for the first time in the match. Romsey fought back valiantly, using the pace of back three Locryn Williams, Dylan Scott and replacement winger Bill Smith, but the resolute Christchurch defence held firm and a penalty stretched their lead to 15-11. The situation was not helped by an injury to scrum-half Soundy.

With the demands of forwards coach Roger Cornish in mind, the engine room of Brad Hughes and Lewis Cartledge stepped it up a gear and carried strongly to drag Romsey back into the opposing half. When a penalty was awarded, the captain elected for touch to give Romsey an attacking set piece. The well-oiled lineout pivot of Scott, Hughes and flanker Ryan Daly executed well, with the subsequent driving maul splintering the defence. Lamont latched onto the rear to dive over – his second try in as many games. The conversion was nailed to give Romsey the lead once more.

Christchurch yet again fought back to win a penalty which was converted to put the game on a knife-edge at 18-18. With seconds left, a bone-shattering hit from Ben Hewitt was followed by a huge turnover penalty from Simon Garraway to give Romsey an opportunity to snatch a victory, but the kick went agonisingly wide to end the game as a draw.

Whilst frustrated with the honours shared in back-to-back matches, Romsey should hold their heads high as the season continues undefeated with a solid foundation to build upon. After the final whistle captain Scott philosophically stated that if played last season, both games would have likely ended in losses without the grit of this new look side.

A special thanks to team manager Tim Clayton who managed to forget the VEO equipment, meaning this match report is unfortunately the only record of events.

Team

1. Elliott Johnson
2. Alfie Lawrence
3. Ian Milanak
4. Lewis Cartledge
5. Brad Hughes
6. Nick Creal (MoM)
7. Ryan Daly
8. Harrison Scott ©
9. Ollie Soundy (VC)
10. Jim Lamont (VC)
11. Alex Watts
12. Caine Latham
13. Aidan Cleland
14. Locryn Williams
15. Dylan Scott

Finishers

16. Ben Hewitt
17. Simon Garraway
18. Bill Smith

Mini’s Happy Hour from 11am to 12.30pm

RRFC Minis – U5’s to U13’s

Hot Chocolate, Lemonade and Pepsi Max just 50p.

Please pre-order at the bar from 10am if you would like your hot chocolate ready for the end of training to warm up your little one’s.