Regional 2 South Central: Ellingham & Ringwood 0 Wimborne 59

Basement boys Ellingham & Ringwood suffered a bruising 59-0 Regional 2 South Central defeat at home to third-placed Wimborne on Saturday.

While the home team welcomed the return of veteran prop Tom Sampson back into their fold to bolster the depleting numbers, their injury list was even longer by the end of a brutal game.

The visitors came out of the blocks quickly as Alex O'Farrell, playing in the second row, had to be removed due to concussion while centre Zach Leishman departed because of an injured knee.

Despite Ellingham’s valiant efforts, they could no longer stem the tide of attacks from Wimborne, who got their first of 11 tries in the 15th minute, which was converted.

Ellingham fought back and put Wimborne under a lot of pressure deep in their half, but could not convert their efforts into points. Fly-half Antony Fitch was only able to shank a penalty kick wide of the upright.

In the 34th minute, Wimborne dotted down once more and, three minutes later, left winger Maverick Goodchild sped down his wing to dive in the corner to give the away team a 19-0 half-time advantage.

The second period did not go well for Ellingham & Ringwood, with the visitors running in a further eight tries.

Maverick Goodchild ran in another try alongside prop Jack Arnold, who was a constant threat throughout the game. Flanker Jay Adams also got in on the act.

But the final scoreline was only half the story.

Young flanker Elliot Packham went off with a broken collarbone - as did fly-half Fitch, and winger Chris Frost had to come off with a bad back and lump under his right eye.

To top things off, veteran prop Sampson had to leave with two injuries that had been inflicted upon him.

The hosts were down to just 11 players by the end.

All 18 members of the team can be very proud of their resilience in the circumstances, with some notable performances coming from props Adam Payne and Toby Benevento, as well as Stu Pearce - playing at No.8 - who got Ellingham & Ringwood man-of-the-match honours.

Ellingham & Ringwood will be in action at Twickenham on Saturday, November 8, after a fixture-free weekend.