Lymington II v Fareham Heathens III – Match Report

Mariners topple table toppers

 Lymington Mariners II 13 – 10 Fareham Heathens III

On Saturday Lymington Mariners 2nd XV won their 4th league game in a row with a passionate and determined performance to stun league leaders Fareham who had been beaten only once this season prior to their trip to Woodside Park.

The early initiative was all Lymington’s with some counter-rucking turning over possession to set up good field position. So when the first penalty was awarded and Josh Smith cooly slotted the kick for a 3 point lead there was a visible lift in the Mariner ranks – the belief that they could master the league leaders was tangible.

The next 15 minutes saw the game see-saw from one end to another. Lymington had a slight edge in the line-outs with both Chris Baker and Jack Dovey taking their ball and disrupting the opposition’s. Hooker Anthony Hoyles took a number of scrums against the head and in the rucks Lymington’s pressure ensured Fareham had to commit more forwards than they would have wanted on their own ball for fear of being turned over. In the backs young debutant William Banasik at scrum-half was a constant threat around the fringes whilst Pete Rolfe and Ben Mansbridge in the centres kept knocking down their opposite numbers. Brian Hill standing in at full back swept up any loose and kicked ball to ensure Fareham had to earn any gain in territory the hard way.

Twice the Mariners surged deep into the Fareham half, both times crossing the line in a melee of players only to be judged as held up. Then in an attack from Fareham inside the Lymington 22  some quickly recycled ball saw them find a three man overlap out wide and they took the lead 3-5.

In the dying minutes of the first half Lymington managed to make enough ground that when another penalty was awarded Josh Smith sent the ball sailing between the posts for 3 more points and Lymington reclaimed the lead – something that, despite constant pressure from Fareham, they didn’t give up for the rest of the match.

In fact, early in the second half Lymington were even able to extend their lead by another 7 points from a converted try. Attacking up the slope the Mariners found themselves deep in the visitor’s territory. A penalty was awarded near the posts and in defiance of Chris Rodway’s pre-match instructions Lee Thomas took the quick tap instead of the almost certain 3 points on offer. Carrying the ball to within a few yards of the line he took the tackle but deftly offloaded the ball to the young William Banasik in close support. William running low and hard reached the line and then with the pack lending their support to drive him clean over he touched down for the score. Josh Smith added the extras.

For the remainder of the second period Lymington rarely seemed to leave their own half. Between the countless errors by both sides there was some quality rugby on display. Fareham set up camp in the Lymington half and eventually put the ball through the hands for their outside centre to score from a 2 on 1 overlap. There was still 22 minutes remaining and Fareham desperate to maintain their winning streak threw everything but the kitchen sink into attack only to find a Mariner defence that had their measure. This was no ordinary defensive effort – this was one for the Mariner archives. Every single player, all 20 that took the field, put their bodies on the line – mostly deep in the sandy swamps of Mariners’ Corner. A corner whose short history has been littered with epic victory winning scores on this day became the place where the 2nd team dug their trenches and declared ‘thou shall not pass’.

The forwards continued to hold their own in the set pieces and Tom Bradley-Watson, switching to scrum-half, tortured his opposite number and the Fareham back row at their scrums. The tackle count rattled up but still Fareham couldn’t find a gap – for there wasn’t one. Even when Fareham made some half chances there was always a Mariner there to thwart them. Big hits by Chris ‘JC’ Baker, Dominic Martin-Mayes, Stuart Harvey, Captain Jack Sparrow-Legs, to name but a few, snuffed out Fareham hopes time and again.

Those 22 minutes seemed to last an age but then, with the tanks down to empty, the words ’11 seconds to go’ were heard and with one final play Dominic retrieved the ball at the back of a ruck and wellied it into touch.

If ever singling one player out for man of the match was an injustice to the rest of the team it would be now. William Banasik had an outstanding debut, Josh Smith kicked the vital points, Pete Rolfe stepped up to the mark and then bounded straight past it when under great pressure to do so, Chris Baker continued his meteoric rise from novice to a superstar, Jody Miles and Stuart Harvey were cornerstones of the relentless pack effort, Charlie Cutler proved how right we’ve been to miss him so much, Ben Mansbridge and Aaron Lopez out wide made sure that when they were called in to action they were more than ready, Jack Dovey led his troops from the front, Neil Foot, as always, played with a fearlessness that’s simply scary, Toby Bradley-Watson made the difference when it mattered most, Brian Hill showed that an old head on old shoulders with old legs is a winning combination, Harry Hamson covered more ground than Google Earth, Ollie Westall, Ben Rodway, Josh Dunkley and Dominic Martin-Mayes all came on in the second half and made sure they left the field having put in as much effort as those that played the full game, Lee Thomas was just happy to get through the 80 minutes unscathed and get in one good clawing hand-off and Anthony Hoyles picked the shirts up from the dry cleaners.

A great day for the Mariners that has now seen them win their last 4 consecutive matches – their best run of results so far. Next week they take on Farnborough at home, kick off at 2pm.