ISLE of Wight returned to winning ways after last week’s away defeat at Locks Heath Pumas by running up seven super tries against Havant.

                                           ISLE OF WIGHT 45, HAVANT III 19

In an entertaining contest between two sides aiming to play expansive rugby, often successfully, conditions were almost perfect for this time of year.

Isle of Wight welcomed back several of the players who had been unavailable due to illness the previous week, together with co-captain, Andrew Brown, who made his first appearanace of the season following after a fractured hand suffered during pre-season training.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Isle of Wight began in determined mood and struck at the heart of the Havant defence, carrying directly, before exploiting defensive cracks and scoring inside the opening five minutes.

Full-back, Mark Waterer, fielded a clearance kick and ran it back with interest — finding Luke Blackman who applied the finish.

The visitors then gained a foothold, making the next 20 minutes closely contested, with little between the teams in general play.

However, Isle of Wight wrestled their way back on top, aided by their powerful scrum.

The front row of Sam McQueen and Ricky Keyes, not content with just scrummaging, made barnstorming carries, before Blackman offloaded to Nathan Rolfe, who raced clear to score.

Rolfe soon added his second, with George Huish claiming the assist.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Havant, 21-0 down, got themselves back into the contest — spotting a dog-leg in the hosts’ defence to score.

However, the Islanders had the last word of the first half, Blackman cantering over after a sweeping move, to confirm the bonus point.

Huish converted all four tries as Isle of Wight led 28-7 at the break.

Plenty of good rugby was also played in the second half, much of it by Isle of Wight.

Experienced scrum-half, Alex Augustus, steered the ship ably, while Brown was enjoying his return — crashing over from close range for Isle of Wight’s fifth try.

Havant responded with a superb try out wide, but they were unable to contain the rampant Blackman, who was causing them all sorts of problems — adding two more tries to his tally for a remarkable four-try haul, with Huish converting the fourth.

Havant touched down for their third try, but it was Isle of Wight who finished on the attack to maintain their unbeaten home run at Wootton.

Isle of Wight: Waterer, Rolfe, Jones-Evans, Margham, C.Browne, Huish, Augustus, Newnham, McQueen, Keyes, Blackburn, Pudney, Brown, Lynch, Blackman. Replacements: Wallace, Rann, S.Browne.