THE great form from the first half of the season seems to have deserted Isle of Wight RFC as numerous errors cost them against a strong Romsey side.

IWRFC 21, ROMSEY 24

IWRFC slumped to another defeat on Saturday, which saw them drop down to fourth in Counties 3 Hampshire and slipping out of promotion contention. 

Despite the slim margin by the end, IW trailed by ten points for most of the game and didn't always look like potential winners.

This was mostly due to their high error count and Romsey's strong performance, which earned them a string of penalties.

Though IW welcomed back Aaron Young and Luke Blackman from injury, they struggled to find form.

Romsey broke the deadlock after ten minutes, but IW retaliated with a series of accurate phase plays that resulted in George Huish scoring and converting.

However, Romsey's threat behind the scrum pushed IW back — securing a 17-7 lead with an interception try after 20 minutes, which is how it stayed at half-time.

In the second half, with relentless carrying from Andy Brown and Sam McQueen, IW managed to strike back.

A precise kick by Blackman was collected by Huish for another converted score.

Romsey, however, quickly countered and extended their lead yet again — maintaining their ten-point advantage.

Despite a challenging second-half, with Romsey's fly-half persistently pushing IW back with his accurate kicks, strong performances by James Webster and Ian Puzey kept IW in the game right until the end.

IW managed to score in the final play, with Huish completing his try hat-trick, earning a personal total of 21 points — the team's entire points haul.

IWRFC: Young, Rolfe, Jones-Evans, Blackman (capt), C.Browne, Huish, S.Browne, Puzey, McQueen, Newnham, Blackburn, Martin, Lynch, Webster, Brown. Replacements: Keyes, Bishop, Wynyard-Wright.