Haywards Heath 7  Horsham 21

Horsham under-14s rounded off their first Sussex A League season by beating Haywards Heath 21-7 in their own backyard, with a clinical team display.
 
Five wins in six league games is normally enough to clinch a top two place but incredibly we must now hope Heath can regroup and stop Chichester getting a bonus point win on the same pitch on March 21 to ensure we finish second (and put us into the County Final seven days later).

Horsham dominated from the first whistle and outplayed Haywards Heath in almost every department.

The home side's much-vaunted pack were made to look ordinary by a superb display from the Horsham eight, typified by Simon Ashman who spent the match wiping out his opposite number in maul, lineout and ruck - and when the home player did get the ball, Simon floored him.

Dan Cass on the other flanker returned to his best and surely put in his best display of the season, while the Haywards Heath number eight was safely tucked away in Michael Turner's pocket for the majority of the game.  And in the engine room the big Haywards Heath second rows had little joy from both Robin Holt and Ben Higgs, who again had superb games.


The boys looked fired-up and focused even in the warm-up and from the very first play drove the home side back.

The pressure to score was on and following a slick miss-move instigated by Aled Price and carried on by Chris Wesson, Michael Turner crashed through two tackles before plopping the ball over the line with his extended tentacle arm.

Cameron Allan served up a good kick from the left and it was 7-0.

Our forwards were playing so well we won a couple of scrums against the head but to be fair so did they – and so the pre-match fears of lack of possession were quickly forgotten.

More ball followed and when Heath did get ball full-back Kyle Fuller mopped up well, as the last line of defence, and enjoyed running back kicks with interest, while wingers Blaise Salle and Devan Clarke-Sheward could never have expected to be so involved.

With more and more ball coming Horsham went further ahead.

Ashman, who emerged from so many lineouts with ball in hand en route to a 20-yard gain, somehow burrowed his way through a forest of bodies but was stopped and picked up by the huge Heath second rower in the in-goal area.

Wriggling for all he was worth Ashman forced the giant to drop him and that was a try, brilliantly converted by Cameron from out wide.

That came seconds after Aaron Boczek - on for the bloodied Devan - ended a neat line move with a try in the corner that was ruled out for a forward pass.

Front row Liam Brady, Kyle Fairs and skipper Charlie Piper ruined Heath's day.  Kyle showed how much his fitness has improved with great ball-carrying and tackles, while Sussex forward Liam looked full of confidence and was everywhere and Charlie Piper lead by example with tackles and steals galore.


And the work-rate continued in the second half resulting in a killer third try.

Kyle Fuller gathered another aimless kick and charged through several tackles.

He then kicked ahead perfectly but the ball bounced badly and went into the try area.

The home full back opted to run it out rather than touch down, haring across the pitch and behind his own posts. Sadly for him, Ryan Lawford and Chris Wesson caught him and stopped him before forcing him to touch down.

And from our five-metre scrum, Aled popped the ball to Ryan who crashed over, allowing Cameron another two-point success.

And apart from a few excursions after this, we rarely looked like adding to our tally - which turned out to be a shame because one more would have been a bonus point and a place in the final.

Instead, Heath rallied without getting anywhere near our line except eight minutes from time when a kick was charged down and touched down and from the resulting five-metre scrum, the huge second row went over for a converted score.

The rest of the match was spent in midfield, Blaise wrapping up his opposite number if he got the ball - easily the best he has played for the club.

The second half also saw the introduction of Dan Rapson who carried on with the good work and again had a strong game off the bench and Connor Peppard who enhanced his reputation at hooker with a number of steals and, like all good hookers, irritating the opposition.
 

So after beating Heath we now need them to do us a favour but even if they don't, what a season it's been.
 
Just one defeat, just two tries conceded in the matches against Hove, Heath, Chichester and Worthing and making the step up from B League to A League look effortless.


Horsham: Liam Brady; Charlie Piper; Kyle Fairs (Connor Peppard); Robin Holt; Ben Higgs (Dan Rapson); Dan Cass; Simon Ashman; Michael Turner; Cameron Allan; Aled Price; Devan Clarke-Sheward (Aaronn Boczek); Ryan Lawford; Chris Wesson; Blaise Salle; Kyle Fuller
Unused subs: Sam Boylett; Nic Mathers; Josiah Walker; Jerry Downey