Ryde’s Dickie Waldren, right, helps tackle a Milbrook player, with Jon Poore behind. Picture by Robin Crossley.
RUGBYRyde 3, Millbrook 25
RYDE’S final game of the season ended in defeat, despite a valiant performance against the physical Millbrook.
Millbrook arrived with a reputation for physical play and strong pack and this proved to be the case as, despite Ryde’s best efforts, they out-muscled the Islanders.
Ryde perhaps edged an extremely close but scoreless first half, up until the final play when Millbrook used their weight to drive a scrum over the line to score the first points of the day.
The second half proved to be more of the same from the away side, and despite battling hard, Ryde conceded a further two tries and two penalties.
Martin Kirwood-Slack, his usual powerful self going forward, and Calvin Edwards, tried hard but found it impossible to break through a solid Millbrook line.
Wilks Lettings man of the match Rob Knight proved to be a constant thorn in the side of the opposition with his fantastic counter attacks from deep as well as his solid cover defence, and The Falcon man of the match Danny Vyse had a superb game.
Vyse was at the heart of everything good for Ryde, with excellent kicking, strong running and huge defensive hits stopping Millbrook in their tracks.
Despite all of their hard work and endeavour over the course of the match, however, Ryde had still not managed to score any points, so when the home side were awarded a penalty on the last play of the game, captain David True took it upon himself to convert it from wide on the left.
As the ball crossed between the posts the referee’s whistle blew to signal the end of the game and the end of Ryde’s season.
Although they had not finished in the manner they would have preferred, this defeat could not detract from what had been a hugely successful year in Merit Two.