COUNTIES 3 HANTS
                                      ISLE OF WIGHT 29, OVERTON 10      
ISLE of Wight RFC began their new season in style with a comfortable win against Overton at Wootton Rec. 

Bathed in late summer sunshine, it was an equally bright performance by the Islanders, who grew into the game after a tentative start.

A minute’s silence for the Queen was observed before kick-off.

It had not been the smoothest of preparations to the campaign for Isle of Wight, with their first two scheduled games postponed. 

The squad had also not had a pre-season fixture, then lost co-captain Andrew Brown to a fractured hand. 

Overton completed the double over Isle of Wight last season and finished above them in the table, so may have fancied themselves as favourites. 

They started brightly enough, playing flowing rugby and putting the hosts under pressure — driving up to the Isle of Wight line and scoring.

Isle of Wight’s defence became stronger after that blip, making it difficult for the visitors to gain ground. 

The home side began to retain possession well and took Overton through numerous phases. 

After an initial chance went begging, skipper, Luke Blackman offloaded well to Dan Bishop, who crashed over under the posts after 17 minutes. 

George Huish added the extras to give Isle of Wight the lead.

Overton were competitive in the scrum and had their moments in attack, but Isle of Wight got the upper hand with strong carries from Chris Ormerod and Sam McQueen. 

Isle of Wight broke through again on 24 minutes — Blackman scoring to give Isle of Wight a 12-5 lead at the break.

After an even start to the second half, Isle of Wight got an important score — the forwards setting up a quick ball for Huish to dart through, then convert. 

Overton looked tired, which the Isle of Wight forwards exploited as they secured the four-try bonus with a textbook line-out catch and maul, with Blackman applying the touchdown.

Overton tested the Isle of Wight defence, but got very little change out of Nathan Rolfe and James Webster. 

Isle of Wight then went on to score the try of the game — forward driving play topped off by hard running and quick hands by the backs, led to replacement Toby Margham scoring. 

Overton added a late consolation.