Horsham through to cup final

Credit however should go to Burgess Hill in fulfilling the fixture after Pulborough had conceded the tie in advance in the previous round.

Horsham ran in eleven tries in perfect conditions, four of which were scored by outside centre Joe Wilde.

Due to their perennial problem of being dogged by unavailability, Horsham used the opportunity to blood the youngsters with four players making their 1st XV competitive debuts off the bench namely Sam Harding, Matt Blake and 17 year olds Jordan Bell and Ryan Maguire, and demonstrate the continuing conveyor belt of talent developed and nurtured by the club’s junior section.

Horsham now go on to face the winners of Hove v Heathfield & Waldron in the final on May 14th.

Horsham were quickly out of the blocks. Arun Thompson fielded the kick-off and ran hard at the opposing defence and when the ball was recycled it was spun wide for Mike Watts to run in his seventeenth try of the season from 35 yards. This was converted by Tom Johnson who was to add the extras to nine tries over the course of the afternoon.

From the restart there were strong runs by Joe Wilde, Iain Fisher and Jerry Downey, and when Watts fielded a long clearance kick, he linked well with Adam Clarkson and Kyle Fairs to send Ollie Harcus over for the second try.

Burgess Hill were then disadvantaged by conceding a yellow card for lying on the wrong side after a period of sustained Horsham pressure but they still came back with a powerful try from prop Paul Hasib after Horsham had conceded a penalty for wheeling the scrum under their own posts.

Horsham then switched up a gear and scored three tries in four minutes. Wilde stepped his man and ran in from 30 yards after a switch with Johnson, Thompson added a solo score from a similar distance, and then after Clarkson had fielded another kick-off he beat his man to feed Fairs on the half way line who went on a barn storming run through the heart of the Burgess Hill team to score a popular try which was his second in two weeks.

Burgess Hill came back with an excellent well worked try on the blind side with some slick inter passing through back row player Joe Turner to narrow the deficit to 35-10 but this was just a temporary respite from the wave upon wave of Horsham attacks.

Wilde was the first to react to a loose ball to run in and score his second try. Clarkson then caught the ball from the restart and ran back before feeding Thompson on the break, and at the breakdown Josh Mills set up Jerry Downey to run round and score.

Horsham were going through a purple patch and they went through a multi-handling attack involving nearly every player in the side which almost lead to Mills scoring the team try of the season in the face of a defence that refused to lie down but he was penalised for crossing when he thought he had scored. Minutes later Mills made no mistake to score off an inside pass when he was again in support after some fluent handling as Horsham entered the break leading 56-10 having scored eight tries in the first half.

Burgess Hill refused to buckle and when Horsham made six changes off the bench early in the second half they found it difficult to score for the next half hour and were handicapped by yellow cards to Watts for playing the ball on the ground and Andy Carvell for lying on the wrong side.

The home side appeared to run out of steam as everything started to click into place for Horsham as they added a further three tries in the final ten minutes.

Watts made a solo break and then made a crossfield grubber kick into space for Johnson to follow up and score. After the Horsham forwards had absorbed a lot of pressure on their try line Wilde intercepted to outpace the defence and run in from 75 yards, and there was still time for Wilde to add his fourth try in the closing stages.

Horsham head coach Nick Stocker said: “It was a good performance from a team with up to fifty per cent of the regular starting line-up out. With no disrespect to Burgess Hill the game as a contest was out of their reach by half-time.

Even with a much changed side we showed good lines of running and good patterns and all in all it was an excellent performance. Our fitness levels and quality of basic execution showed the difference between the respective levels the clubs are playing.

We gave away too many needless penalties however which we will have to tighten up on because whichever side we play in the final will be strong. At least we know in which key areas we need to improve.

Joe Wilde with his four tries has looked really sharp at the end of the season. He has really come of age and will be a key player for us next year.

Kyle Fairs try was one to cherish. He has worked hard this season and I know there is more to come.
Ollie Harcus was exceptional again. He has a good all round game and his arrival has been a great asset.
Mike Watts always looked dangerous and it was very encouraging to see performances from the young players Ryan Maguire, Jordan Bell and Matt Blake.”

Horsham: Watts; Wilson (Bell), Ordidge (Harding), Wilde, Downey (Blake); Johnson T (capt), Mills (Walker); Harcus, Grantham-Hill, Fairs; Clarkson (Maguire), Whiting; Cass (Brady), Thompson, Fisher (Carvell)