Gather round and I’ll tell you an epic saga of blood, sweat, tears and derring-do.
A cold and frosty morning, the winter sun hanging low in the sky.
A rollercoaster journey across the Solent, icy waves crashing against the catamaran.
A cross country trip in a train older than my granddad.
A full 15 players for the Gosport and Fareham U16s.
All these were the vital ingredients in the Hampshire Bowl Semi Final, Vectis vs Gosport and Fareham at Sandown. Gosport and Fareham were looking for a better result than the 24-59 defeat they suffered against Vectis in the league earlier in the season.
Gosport and Fareham opted to receive the kick, Vectis chose to play up the slope in the first half.

The first 9 minutes were a pretty even affair. The ball stayed pretty much mid field with hard rucking, a number of rips and knock ons saw the possession switch between the teams. Gosport and Fareham took the ball out wide to the wing and were brought down with a high tackle. The sun was low, the wind was blustery and the penalty was off to the touchline but the Captain obviously had confidence in his kicker and, for the first time this season, called for the posts. Harvey Field set the ball up, stepped back and took the kick. A great effort but the ball fell tantalisingly short, hitting the ground and bouncing straight into the arms of the chasing backs! Gos formed a solid ruck and set up for a crash ball. Vectis looked like they’d stopped Gosport and Fareham before an extra surge saw the maul crash over the line…held up, 5m scrum to Gos. The scrum was won, Alex Stepnitz powering over the line…again, held up! Another 5m scrum, this time Dave Lewis passed the ball down the blind side. A couple of rucks later saw Benjamin Smith grounding the ball for the first points of the game before converting his own try.
The match settled down once again with Vectis going through the phases and venturing into Gosport and Fareham’s 22. Then it happened...Vectis passed the ball…it wasn’t a wayward pass, it wasn’t speculative, but it was across a gap that Joseph O’Mahony had already decided he was going to run through and collect the ball on the way. He was off! Vectis gave chase but Joe had a head start and was flying…until the last 10m, Vectis were gaining fast but Joe stayed just ahead of them, placing the ball beneath the posts. Benjamin Smith converted making the score 0-14.
The celebrations didn’t last long. Vectis responded immediately from the restart, a couple of phases of play, a line out and drive saw Vectis bring the score to 5-14 after missing the conversion.

Half Time 5-14

The second half didn’t start as planned. Vectis attacked straight from the kick off. Solid phases and good rucking saw them ground the ball in the corner after just 2 minutes. A carbon copy from the restart and Vectis took the ball over in the opposite corner. Both conversions were missed – 15-14.
The boys were going to have to dig deep and, to their credit, they did exactly that, they knew they could win this one. They spent the next 12 minutes defending strongly, rucking well and gradually moving the ball up the field. Gosport and Fareham reached their line. Vectis gave the ball to the Forwards and ran straight into Alex Burnett who managed to get hands on the ball and do enough to win Gosport and Fareham the scrum. The pack was steady, Dylan Aldridge hooking the ball back, out to the backs and through the hands to Ludovico Righini-Nisbet, totally unmarked and taking the Vectis defence by surprise he slid across the line. The conversion was missed – 15-19.
Ludo was down, a leg injury forcing him off after his spectacular try. Gosport and Fareham were down to 14 for the remaining 20 minutes…could they weather the coming storm?
The boys were fired up now. Just 7 minutes later we were back down inside their 22 with a scrum. This time Benjamin Smith took off down the blind side. A last ditch tackle came in but it was too late as Ben went over in the corner. Robert Ellis slotted the conversion over to make it 15-26. This was followed with a repeat performance 4 minutes later, this time Harvey Field dancing past the defence before taking the ball over the line in the same place as the previous one for the 5th try of the match.
Gosport and Fareham once again attacked from the restart. The Forwards once again securing the ball and working their way into the 22 before Robert Ellis broke free slipping into the opposite corner before converting his try.
Gosport and Fareham had 8 minutes to hold out. The onslaught came, crash ball after crash ball as Vectis made their way toward the line. The Gosport and Fareham defence held firm. An attempted break down the left hand side resulted in a ruck from a knock on. Scrum to Gosport and Fareham…last play of the match…all they had to do was secure the ball and clear it.
The scrum was won, Dave flipped it back to Harvey who hoisted it towards the club house.

Final score 15-40.

Great work by all the Forwards especially winning the ball against the head on a couple of vital occasions. Good to see the communication and team work in the Backs with some good support lines being run. Nice to see proper tackles going in and some decent rucking from everyone.

Well done boys, Bowl Final beckons.