CHINEHAM RFC had a disappointing away day to the Isle of Wight as they lost 50-7 at Ventnor in Hampshire One, writes JOHN TINKER.

The visitors took the lead thanks to a early penalty slotted over by their captain.

Chineham won back the ball from the subsequent kick off and exerted pressure on the sizeable Ventnor defence maintaining the majority of the possession.

After 20 minutes this pressure was rewarded from a lineout on the home side’s 22 secured by Sean Butterworth.

The resulting ruck saw the ball shipped to fly-half Dougie Ireland who drew his defender and then sent through Lloyd Amos to score under the posts. Ireland converted the try which gave the visitors a 7-3 lead.

This woke up the hosts and the match became a more evenly matched affair with both sides coming close to scoring with Chineham’s Matt Lingham being a constant threat.

Ventnor then scored two quick tries at the end of the first half for a 17-7 advantage.

This gave the hosts a confidence boost whilst having the opposite effect on the visitors.

The second half saw Ventnor dominate the fixture limiting Chineham’s attacks whilst scoring a further five unanswered tries.

Whilst the first third of the game gave Chineham a reason to be positive, the rest of the encounter highlighted areas for improvement for the Lions.

They are next in action a week on Saturday at home to Fareham Heathens.