Alton 38pts

Sandown & Shanklin 12pts

Alton Silverbacks maintained their unbeaten and impressive start to the season with another fine performance as they recorded their tenth straight win.

With Alton missing a few backs, and no backs even named as substitutes, Alton stepped into this game perhaps knowing they would need to rely on their formidable pack, and so it transpired.

Alton were forced into an early change as Matt Chapman was forced off after a blow to the face, but with John Happel joining the fray the Alton scrum quickly exerted pressure on the Sandown line and Luke Parratt took his opportunity well from five yards, bursting through three defenders after ten minutes.

Sandown were now under pressure, conceding several offside penalties as they sought to stop the Alton advance. Jeremy Powell broke through and found Michael Robson, who was stopped just short of the line, as Alton continued to dominate territory playing down the Anstey Park slope.

Sandown had an opportunity to exert some pressure of their own, but after missing a kick to the corner and a fearsome clearout by Nick Stoffel in midfield, they soon found themselves back in their own half. The Alton defensive line speed was forcing Sandown errors as the visitors struggled with their kicking to relieve pressure from deep all afternoon. Tom Smethurst rose imperiously at the back of one lineout, Stoffel was brought down just short, the ball was quickly recycled and Alton put in Ed Pasfield for a second try against a flagging defence after 27 minutes.

Five minutes later, Alton again charged down another clearance. The lineout and scrum went Alton’s way and with Robson initially feigning left, he turned and found Hamer who carved through the defence to score under the posts for a 17-0 lead.

With the game seemingly going one way, the Islanders rallied just before half time. Their rolling maul was proving to be an effective strategy and Alton were penalised for bringing the maul down. Playing the penalty advantage, Sandown spun the ball wide and reduced the deficit after a well-taken try wide left.

After an off-the-ball incident, the referee took great exception to Pasfield’s reaction and Alton would play the first ten minutes of the second half with 14 men.

With a man advantage, Sandown started the second half on the front foot, but again lack of discipline at the breakdown cost them and Alton gained much-needed territory. With Ben Burrage winning lineouts, Sandown were unable to gain any ground and they then started to attract the referee’s displeasure and were marched back into their 22 for talking back after another penalty concession.

Sandown’s indiscretions quickly came to the attention of the referee again and a Sandown back was yellow carded for his language. But the Sandown substitutes had now added extra weight to their pack and again Alton were penalised for dragging the maul down after it had rumbled forward toward the hosts’ line. This time, there was no stopping Sandown and they converted a spirited try with 15 minutes left to cut the lead to 17-12.

Alton immediately rallied. While Sandown controlled the mauls, Alton controlled the scrum and after winning one against the head, Hamer took advantage of the open space, backed himself as the Sandown defence parted and provided a perfectly weighted pass for the grateful Brendan Sumner to restore the 12-point lead with the bonus-point try.

With regular fly halfs Joe Gwyther and Cameron Wicks missing, Hamer played a calm and considered game all afternoon and his kicking out of hand made it difficult for Sandown to gain any territory. Again Hamer punished Sandown near their own line with an accurate kick to the corner, and as they struggled to hold the advance, Sandown conceded four penalties in quick succession; one of which was punished with another yellow card after a deliberate knock on.

The Hamer-Sumner partnership combined well again in midfield for Sumner to score again under the posts with six minutes left and finally the Sandown spirit was broken. The Alton scrum marched them back with little resistance, and as the ball came along the line, Hamer jinked left, right and left again to score a well-deserved try of his own in the final minute.

Tomorrow’s game at Ellingham and Ringwood is a double header – counting in the Hampshire Premiership and the Hampshire Plate (kick-off 2pm).