Match report: Ellingham & Ringwood RFC beat Eastleigh RFC 50-28 to climb to second in the Hampshire Counties One table
Ellingham & Ringwood were at their free-flowing best when travelling to Eastleigh, winning comfortably to rubber-stamp their promotion credentials on Saturday.
On a pitch bathed in early spring sunshine, the game kicked off with both sides playing competitive rugby in the opening exchanges, with neither team backing down in defence.
That was until the 19th minute when second-row Andrew Lorton muscled his way over the Eastleigh try-line following good work from his fellow forwards. Chris Frost, playing on the wing, stepped up to add the additional two points.
Ellingham did not hold to their lead for long after an interception, and Eastleigh flanker Nicholas Blake cut a good line with a decisive run to score the home side’s first try, which fly-half Arron Barnes converted.
Then, in the 27th minute, Frost slotted over a penalty following an Eastleigh player’s block on centre Connor Hamerston, denying Hamerston the opportunity to collect his chip kick ahead over the Eastleigh defence.
The Ellingham forwards were starting to make their mark, with hooker Pat Fraser powering his way over to give the away team their second try of the game in the 34th minute, and Frost was able to add the two points to extend their lead.
Three minutes later, winger Hugo Leigh-Watts came off his wing, evading three tackles, one of which nearly decapitated him, and the Eastleigh player was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes after Leigh-Watts had scored his try. Again, Frost converted his kick.
Eastleigh fought back and put the Ellingham defence under extreme pressure with their rolling mauls, which eventually ended up with firstly Lorton being shown a yellow card, and then hooker Fraser. A few minutes later, the referee lost his patience and awarded the home team a penalty try, leaving Ellingham up 24-14.
Eastleigh started the second half strongly, with their prop Jack Devereux getting their third try of the game in the 44th minute, with Barnes again able to add the extra two points.
In the 58th minute, with Ellingham restored to a full 15, flanker Chris Hancock got Ellingham’s fourth try, extending the away team’s lead.
Their lead was further extended in the 60th minute with winger Leigh-Watts, with a blistering run down the left flank, evading the efforts of the home team defence, leaving them standing almost like statues to score a good try, and Frost was able to add the two points.
Nine minutes later, captain and scrum-half Sammy Veneroso took a quick tap penalty to score a try, and again Frost was able to convert to add two more points to Ellingham’s score.
Four minutes later, in the 75th minute, Eastleigh got their fourth try when winger Euan Styles went over the whitewash, and Barnes added the two points with his conversion.
In the dying moments of the game, second-row George Randall, who had moved to play at number eight when coach Alan Steel made some changes to the team in the second half, powered over to score a try following sustained pressure. With the last kick of the game, Frost was successful in making the final score 50-28.
In the bar afterwards, the Ellingham players learned that rivals Gosport & Fareham had lost to Bognor, which meant that Ellingham had moved up to second.
Ellingham have three games left. Bognor visits on Saturday before a crunch match against third-placed Gosport and Fareham.
Ellingham & Ringwood: A. Payne, P. Fraser, T. Sampson, A. Lorton, G. Randall, C. Hancock, J. Bovett, D. Mallard, S. Veneroso, T. Veneroso, H. Leigh-Watts, D. Patrice, C. Hamerston, C. Frost, C. Jeffes. Subs: M. Treloar, T. Johnson, T. Grant.
