ELLINGHAM and Ringwood put in an impressive performance to get a bonus-point win against Ventnor on Saturday to kick-off their Hampshire Division One campaign.

Ellingham started well, but it was Ventnor who opened the scoring with a penalty. Ellingham then struck back with a vengeance, scoring three tries in a short period, with Stuart Pearce, Callum Butler and Chris Frost touching down. All three conversions were missed, as well as a further penalty attempt, which would almost prove a costly mistake.

Ventnor then nailed a penalty to make the score 15-6 at half time. The Isle of Wight side came out of the blocks with pace at the start of the second half. They scored two tries and a conversion to open up an 18-15 lead.

Ellingham’s Dave Jones and Henry Benson also suffered injuries to affect their team’s attacking threat. But they were rewarded for perseverance when Stuart Pearce crashed over with five minutes to go for his second try of the game. Callum Butler added the conversions to make the final score 22-18.

Ellingham and Ringwood Seconds comfortably beat Oakmeadians on Saturday, but it was the latter that scored first after five minutes.

The home side responded with scrum-half Brad Evans touching down before Mark Burrett converted and kicked a penalty to give them a five-point lead at half time. They scored further tries through centre Jack Galton and lock forward Josh Berry. A late penalty made the final score 23-5.

Ellingham and Ringwood Women made it a hat-trick of wins with another strong performance at Southampton on Sunday to maintain their 100 per cent record in National Challenge Division 2 South. Scrum half Paige Darvill-White scored to give them a 5-0 lead at the interval.

They then dominated the early stages of the second half, scoring tries through Jas Clarke and prop Ruth miles to open up a commanding 15-point lead. Southampton bounced back through a converted try to close the gap to eight points before Darvill-White scored her second to relieve the pressure.

A late converted try by the home side left them trailing by six points, but Ellingham held on to win.