HORSHAM GO DOWN FIGHTING

Having watched every player in the Lions put down a strong marker against Chichester 2s in the first game, the 1s went out against a team from two leagues above with the intent of meeting the same high standards.

It was clear from the kick off that this was not going to be a repeat of the game against Burgess Hill the week before, but by no means did Horsham plan to make this an easy afternoon for the visitors. Nowhere was this more evident than in the scrum, where the Horsham pack not only held their own against the visitors but took at least three scrums against the head, regularly driving the larger Chichester pack backwards off their own ball.

The key difference between the two sides was the first-up tackles, with Chichester punishing their hosts for pretty much every missed tackle. Chichester have strong runners across the park, and they were able to follow up initial breaks with good support lines to get around the Horsham defence.

Despite the differences between the two sides Horsham continued to put the work that has been done during pre-season into practice. Handling has improved noticeably from last season and the back line was looking to move the ball wide whenever possible, making use of the pitch and the pace out wide.

Horsham's tenacity paid off in the dying minutes of the game when Matt Goodsir collected his own chip through and fed Angelo Sheppard for a 30m run into the corner, a fitting finish for a side that gave its all.

Feelings after the game were positive, and with only two more weekends to go until the league kicks off everyone is looking to maintain the standards that have been set so far.

TEAM
1. Neal Holden 2. Rob Grantham-Hill 3. Giles Barber 4. Simon Matterface (c) 5. Ryan Grover 6. Dan Crook 7. Ben Pirt 8. Adam Harman 9. Will Johnson 10. Angelo Shepherd 11. Rob Norman 12. Matt Brown 13. Liam Yeates 14. Dan Bourne 15. Tom Wright

16. Iain Fisher 17. Seth Wise 18. Matthew Goodsir 19. Jonny Ordidge