28th October 2007 - Ionians v Sandal

Ionians travelled to Sandal having had last weekend off after their emphatic cup victory against Malton.
The team was almost up to full strength but in the absence of Dom Carty, Alistair Wilde stepped in at Hooker. After only a few minutes Ionians took the lead when good ball was whipped down the line to give winger Ben Bainbridge space to ease into fourth gear as he left his opposite number standing and touched down in the corner. This superb example of attacking rugby was finished off by a long range conversion by Hammersley who kicked well until he handed the kicking duties over after a knock to his leg.

The Ionians forwards began and finished the game dominating the opposition pack and had an unusual amount of freedom to run with the ball often with good effect, Josh Thundercliffe making the most of the space . A number of forward tries were interspersed with some lightning running by winger Henry Waine who scored several of his four tries before the break.

At half time Ionians led 34 - 5 Sandal having taken advantage of momentary ball watching after a kick from defense was collected by the Sandal full back who ran around the outside of the static onlookers.

Ionians started the second half well with a number of tries from the forwards and some powerful running by Danny Casson and Ryan Rodgers. The novice Hooker Wilde won several scrums against the head and Ionians had nearly all of the possession.
The game finished 78 -5, Heylings and Wilson adding to the try count. Pack members, Joe Raynard, Elliot Hodges, Jordan Help, Danny Casson and Alistair Wilde all crossed the line during the game.

Although the victory looked easy, the backline who had started the game so well and could have done so much more damage, looked on for most of the match as the forwards picked up and ran making the most of their dominance. A demonstration though of what they can do.