The Rest prove they're the best

The first of the annual club days took place on Saturday at sunny Sommersfield Academy, as Mariners RFC hosted the best of the rest in four matches, with men’s and women’s first and second team fixtures being played on their Mariners Spirit Day.

The ladies second team game was the first up, and Mariners were to take what would be their only piece of silverware of the day as they scraped out a 3-2 win. Denika Borden grabbed two tries and Heather Wearmouth the third as they reclaimed the trophy.

The men’s second XV match was a very tight affair, and Mariners will probably be disappointed that they didn’t turn first half possession and territory into scores. They showed good power up front, and their quick pick and go tactic in the tight channels made many yards, but the final touch wasn’t there. Warren Smith and Aidan Osmialowski were superb, keeping the solid Rest defense on their toes.

The Rest grabbed the lead though with a well worked try to go ahead 5-0. Mariners struck back though, and from good lineout ball they mauled forward. Osmialowski and Paul Deans broke and fine interplay sent the former over the whitewash in the corner. Keith Hodgkins nailed a wonderful conversion to edge Mariners in front. It was nip and tuck up until the last 10 minutes. Shauntino Simons, always a danger, grabbed a couple of tries to win it at the end, as the Rest won out 17-7.

The ladies first team game was next and it was another tense affair. The Rest opened stronger, with Laura Haynes almost opening the scoring only to be adjudged to have stepped out of bounds before touching down. Mariners struck back and almost scored through Vanessa Toet, but she was touched before she grounded the ball. The Rest did break the deadlock with a superb try from Lauren Wilson after a great break.

The second half started a bit scrappier, but the Rest found their rhythm and threw the ball about with great skill, but that final pass was lacking. Mariners almost snatched a draw at the death after fine play from Michelle Hicks, but the ball was eventually knocked on as the Rest held on for a deserved 1-0 win.

The last game saw the men’s first XV take to the field in what turned out to be an uncompromising, physical but fantastic encounter. The Rest came out of the starting blocks flying and launched wave after wave of attack. The Mariners tackled like demons however, and repelled every attempt to breach their line. Time and again the Rest came, and every time they got to the line, there was someone in the Mariners ranks putting in huge hits, epitomized by Soniko Thomas, Scott Brown and Rich Brown. The other highlight of the scoreless first half was ref Hodgkins hobbling off after turning his ankle. Luckily, regional development officer and accredited ref Scott Harland was in attendance and took over.

The second half was magnificent. The Rest went ahead thanks to Dave Porter’s brilliant try. He intercepted a promising Mariners move, before gathering his own chip over the top to score. Andy Boyce got Mariners off the mark with a penalty after the Rest were penalized for the tackler not releasing. The Rest were intent on running the ball from every opportunity, and a quick penalty deep in their own ’22 ended with Aldo Campbell touching down to increase their lead. An unstoppable maul from a lineout ended with Peter Dunkerley emerging from the mass of bodies to claim the Rest’s third try, with Simons converting to make it 17-3.

This seemed to kick Mariners into action, and they started playing more aggressively with the ball in hand. The pick and go tactic from the base of rucks proved extremely effective as it had in the second team match, and they slowly marched their way up the park. It was from one such pick and go that Alan Steynor barged his way over the line to score. Andy Boyce nailed the conversion to narrow the gap. Mariners then produced one of the tries of the season to close it even tighter. More fantastic work from the forwards saw the ball spread wide to Rich Brown, who broke through a number of tackles before he was hauled down. He kept the ball alive though, and Thomas was on hand to finish brilliantly in the corner. Boyce was narrowly off with the tricky conversion, and then miscued from a penalty. Mariners once again launched an attack right at the death, Thomas again the architect, but he was tackled in to touch as the Rest sealed a hard fought 17-15 win.

This week returns to league action. Mariners tackle league leaders Police at 2 p.m. in the opening men’s fixture, with Renegades and Teachers facing off at 3.30 p.m. in the second men’s match. The ladies are on at 1 pm, with the same fixtures as the men. The games take place at Malabar and all support is welcome.