ALTON 12,

VENTNOR 12

ALTON and Ventnor settled for an honourable draw in a truncated Hampshire 2 game at Anstey Park.

With a strong northerly wind producing what felt like sub-zero temperatures, Alton had to wait a long time for the arrival of the Isle of Wight club who had been caught up in a traffic tailback following a serious accident on the M3 at Winchester.

The match finally kicked off at 3.10pm, just when the first half should have ending, and the teams had just enough light to play an hour of rugby.

Within two minutes, Alton were awarded a penalty, but the lack of a kicking tee and the wind saw the points spurned.

Alton remained in the Ventnor 22 and, following a lineout, the forwards drove to the line for prop James Rowe to emerge from the pile of humanity clutching the ball. Kyle Bale, this time with the tee, converted and Alton led 7-0.

The Islanders responded and used a penalty to encamp on Alton’s line. The home team eventually stole the ball and cleared the danger, but Ventnor returned and made their pressure pay as Ben Lush crashed over for an unconverted try.

Ventnor had an opportunity to take the lead when Alton were penalised for a high tackle, but the kick missed.

Alton also survived the sin-binning of Chris Gregory for lying on the ball and, just on half-time, Tom Smethurst made the classic No 8 break from the back of the scrum to score a good try. Again, the wind-blown kick missed the target, but Alton took a useful 12-5 lead into a very short break (three minutes).

The game restarted in fast-gathering dusk and, within minutes, Ventnor levelled the scores. Following some nice work by the backs, centre Sam Lines did indeed run an excellent line to score near the posts, making the conversion simple for Fergus Kenny.

The game, although fiercely competitive, became scrappy again. Ventnor, despite having a player penalised for a high tackle, managed to stay on terms.

When referee Andy Beevers suffered a cramp attack, probably due to the intense cold, he and the captains decided that, as the game had gone beyond 60 minutes, and no-one could really see, the score would stand as the result, the teams taking two points apiece.

On the neighbouring pitch, Alton’s ‘Super 2s’ lost narrowly, 33-29, to Petersfield III. With the Ventnor 2nd XV fixture being cancelled, Alton offered to field some of the island players against Petersfield – a gesture much appreciated by the visitors.

Alton’s next league action will be on December 5 when they visit Hampshire 2 leaders Romsey. Both teams were relegated last season and it promises to be a close and competitive match.