Counties Two Hampshire rugby: In-form Ellingham & Ringwood ease past Millbrook
Counties Two Hampshire
Ellingham & Ringwood RFC 44
Millbrook RFC 0
Ellingham & Ringwood won their third game in a row to maintain their grip on fourth place, with games in hand on all their nearest rivals.
The hosts managed to keep their opponents scoreless for a second game in a row, defeating Millbrook – who beat current league leaders New Milton last weekend – at the Raymond Brown Memorial Ground.
Ellingham got off to a blistering start, and when Millbrook gave away a penalty, Ellingham's scrum-half Sam Veneroso drilled the ball into the corner. From the resulting line-out, their forwards drove to the line with a punishing maul and hooker Pat Fraser dived over for his first try of the game.
Veneroso then scored a good try from another impressive driving maul, but both went unconverted due to the windy conditions.
Ellingham's forwards were dominant, and prop David Budd smashing through Millbrook's defence for their third try.
Ellingham kept the pressure up, and a clever kick from captain Henry Benson released the lighting-quick Jack Kelly on the right wing. However, a desperate Millbrook defender denied him by tackling without the ball, earning a yellow card and gifting a penalty try.
With Millbrook down to 14 players, Ellingham continued to apply pressure, and their forwards dominated, with Fraser getting his second try of the game.
Just before half-time, Ellingham's number eight Andrew Lorton added to the forwards' tally, making the score 32-0 at the break.
After the restart, Millbrook stemmed the flow of tries to two with some stoic defending, but despite their efforts, they did not threaten Ellingham's try line.
The E&R forwards continued to dominate the set pieces, particularly the scrums and both Budd and Lorton doubled their tally to two apiece.
Despite the wind, Chris Frost eventually succeeded with the boot, converting Budd's second to bring the scores to 44-0, adding pressure on the teams above them.
Ellingham & Ringwood: A. Payne, P. Fraser, D. Budd, J. Fisher, M. Treloar, F. Cockeram, M. Skeates, A. Lorton, S. Veneroso, T. Veneroso, C. Frost, D. Patrice, W. Jenkins, J. Kelly, H. Benson. Subs: T. Sampson, T. Johnson, L. Nicholls.
