THE Hurricanes ended a two-game losing run with an impressive victory in a highly entertaining game against the Trojans, at the Fairway Ground on Saturday.
HURRICANES 73, TROJANS 27
This Counties 1 Hampshire match saw Sandown and Shanklin quickly take control — scoring their first try just minutes in when centre, Luke Wedderkop, broke through the Trojans' defence and sprinted home.
Ant Burr converted, giving the Hurricanes an early 7-0 lead.
The home side continued to build on their momentum.
After strong carries from forwards Shannon, Carew and Ben Kulik, scrum half Tom Marriott cleverly sniped from the base of a ruck, to score the Hurricanes' second try, with Burr this time missing the conversion attempt.
The Hurricanes quickly extended their lead to 19-0. A perfectly judged grubber kick from Burr, allowed Ash Smith to collect the ball and race away to score.
However, the Trojans responded, taking advantage of poor Hurricanes discipline, to score their first try, narrowing the gap to 19-5.
But the Hurricanes were relentless — securing a try bonus point by the half-hour mark.
Michael Barrett powered over for their fourth try, and Burr's successful conversion pushed the score to 26-5.
The Trojans managed to score again before halftime, making the score 26-10 at the break.
The second half began with changes made, but the Hurricanes' momentum continued.
Burr fed returning player, Max Fletcher, who sprinted 50m to score and Burr converted, extending the lead to 33-10.
The Trojans managed to score their third try, but the Hurricanes quickly answered back.
A quick double in three minutes saw Damian Seder score, followed by Smith's second try, bringing the score to 54-15.
Barrett scored again for his second try and, as the match approached the final minutes, the Hurricanes' discipline faltered, leading to a yellow card for Rob Eston.
The Trojans capitalised, scoring their fourth try for a bonus point, making it 61-20.
In a chaotic sequence, the Hurricanes scored again through Sam Tyson, but the Trojans replied with a fifth try, bringing the score to 68-27.
The final score came from Wedderkop, who assisted Chris Omerod for a try.
Keith Wallace, Sandown and Shanklin RFC's director of rugby, said: "The first team continued their good attacking form — scoring 11 tries today — with some real champagne rugby, that was 'highlights reel' worthy."
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