Match report: Ellingham & Ringwood seal convincing 18-0 Hampshire Counties One victory over Bognor

Ellingham & Ringwood refused to show mercy against a hard-working but outmatched Bognor on Saturday.

Storm Bert had well and truly hit Bognor by the time the players stepped out onto a wet and windy pitch to do battle.

Ellingham, playing with a strong wind behind them in the first half, applied early pressure to the home team’s defence. However, the tricky conditions did not make the game easy.

In the first twenty minutes of play, several knock-ons resulted in scrums for both sides.

The opening quarter was attritional, and neither side could make a breakthrough until the 24th minute when centre Danny Patrice broke through a couple of tackles and sped towards the line to dive over and give Ellingham the lead. Chris Frost, returning to full-back, was able to slot the ball through the uprights for an additional two points.

Ten minutes later, after sterling work from the forwards, hooker Pat Fraser bullied his way over the line through the home team’s defence to extend Ellingham’s lead; this was increased further by Frost with a challenging kick in tricky conditions from out wide.

There was no further score in the first half, which left the scores at 14-0 in Ellingham & Ringwood’s favour.

In the second half, changes were made, with Ted Johnson coming onto the pitch to replace flanker Chris Hancock and Harry Westcott taking over from man of the match Danny Patrice in the centre.

The wind and rain continued to play a part in the game despite both teams trying to play as much free-flowing rugby as the conditions would allow.

In the 70th minute, following some good build-up work from the Ellingham pack, captain and scrum-half Sammy Veneroso muscled and darted his way over the line to extend the visitors’ lead. Frost could not convert this time, primarily due to having to kick into a strong wind that even the seagulls above were struggling to contend with.

Ellingham strived to get the fourth try and bonus point, but credit to Bognor’s defence, they held up hooker Pat Fraser on the line.

They also put a lot of pressure on the visitors’ try line but could not quite breach it, and for the first time this season, they did not score in a league game.

The result moved Ellingham into third place in the league and ensured a happy coach trip home.

Ellingham & Ringwood have a week off before hosting the team two points ahead of them in second, Gosport & Fareham, at an earlier time of 2pm next Saturday.

Ellingham & Ringwood: A. Payne, P. Fraser, T. Sampson, D. Smith, C. Scott, C. Hancock, A. Lorton, G. Randall, S. Veneroso, T. Veneroso, H. Leigh-Watts, D. Patrice, A. Higgins, C. Frost, C. Jeffes. Subs: M. Treloar, T. Johnson, P. Johnson.