Ventnor 18 - 12 Southampton

Southampton had the chance to leapfrog Ventnor with a win, but a series of unnecesary penalties gave away a nine point lead inside ten minutes.

But after an unsettled start, the forwards got an opportunity inside the Ventnor twenty-two and got a massive shove going, which was halted just short of the yard. Ian Budd rolled off the maul and over the line, but he was held up over the line.

From the resulting scrum, Southampton got the ball out to the backs where Ramsay Lind cut through a dog-legged defence like a Scottish Toby Flood. He floated the ball to Ryan Keary, who finished off a smart move for Southampton. The conversion went wide.

Southampton then conceded yet more unnecessary penalties for coming-in at the side and handling on the floor, and Ventnor's kicker was on good form. They had a chance to open up Southampton's defence just before half time, but a pass went to floor with a potential overlap beckoning.

Southampton struggled to win their own lines, making it difficult to make ground. After a penalty had put Southampton inside the tewnty two, Jamie Hoque was unlucky not to find a gap as the ref saw pulled the cleverly worked routine back for an infringement. The score was 5-12 at half time.

The story continued in the second half, with Southampton struggling to open up gaps, defending well, but still conceding more penalties.

A change of personnel saw Fraser Chisholm come in number eight and Dan Keepax on the flank. Doug Barrow came into centre. Fraser was soon in the action taking a big crash ball off a shortened line. But although they got another phase going, the ball was lost in contact and Ventnor could regroup.

When Southampton got the ball going forward they looked the better team, but silly mistakes dogged the match and cost them valuable ball - and points. Despite this the forwards made good ground when they drove in numbers, and Southampton's backs allowed nothing through all afternoon.

With one eye on the clock, Southampton found themselves within five yards of the Ventnor line. A catch and drive took them close, before a cluster of players broke off and forced their way over the line. Dan Keepax came up clutching the ball, with Kev Simmons hanging on for luck. Keary put the extras over taking the score to 18-12.

But Southampton had left it too late, and when Ventnor were awarded a scrum on the last play, they knew they just had to put the ball off the park for a valuable win.

Some good performances, notably from Jamie Hoque who put in a number of important tackles and was a constant prescence in support. Ramsay Lind took the only gap he got all afternoon, leading to Keary's try, while the return of Dan Keepax added an extra option at the back row as he showed he was eager to run with the ball.

But ultimately Southampton have thrown away another winnable game with silly mistakes. They now face fellow strugglers Isle of Wight on Saturday, who went down 10-15 to Andover.