Ellingham & Ringwood 1st XV welcomed local rivals Wimborne and the return of veteran prop back in the fold to bolster the teams depleting numbers from the numerous injuries sustained over the opening 6 weeks of their league campaign, unfortunately that injury list was longer by the end of a brutal game.

The visitors game out of the blocks quickly to try and disrupt Ellingham's defence which proved harder than they anticipated, even with Alex O'Farrell playing in the second row who had to be removed from the field of play due to concussion and at the same time centre Zach Leishman had to leave the pitch with an injured knee. Despite the home teams valiant efforts they could no longer stem the tide of attacks from Wimborne who scored their first of 11 tries in the 15th minute which was converted. Ellingham fought back and put Wimborne under a lot of pressure deep in their half, but could not convert their efforts into points, lady luck was not on their side with fly half Antony Fitch sadly shanking a penalty kick wide of the uprights. Then in the 34th minute Wimborne doubled their score and then three minutes later their left winger Maverick Goodchild sped down his wing to dive in the corner to give the visitors a 19 - 0 lead at half time.

The second half did not go well for Ellingham & Ringwood, the visitors ran in a further 8 eight tries with Maverick Goodchild running in another try, alongside prop Jack Arnold who was a constant threat throughout the game and flanker Jay Adams getting in on the act. The final score was Ellingham & Ringwood 0 - Wimborne 59. This is only half of the story of the second forty minutes of the match, young flanker Elliot Packham went off with broken collarbone as did fly half Antony Fitch, winger Chris Frost had to retire also with a bad back and lump under his right eye, to top things off veteran prop Tom Sampson had to leave with two injuries that had been inflicted upon him by the opposition. By the end of the game the home team were down to 11 players, all 18 members of the team can be very proud with some notable performances coming from props Adam Payne and Toby Benevento as well as Stu Pearce playing at number eight who was awarded man of the match award. Not only can the whole team and coaching staff be proud of their gritty performance, but also how they caried themselves throughout the game respecting the values of rugby which we should all hold so closely to our hearts, because without them the spirit of the game is lost.

Swede