Horsham return to winning ways

Playing in different leagues this was to be an unknown challenge for both teams. For Horsham it was a welcome relief from previous seasons, when Cup draws seemed to result in games against regular opponents.

The weather was perfect for running rugby, and also helped to encourage supporters out of their winter hibernation. Fuelled by the odd Saturday afternoon pint or two they would offer shouts of encouragement, followed by constructive criticism, and by the end of the afternoon (and the end of the beer) outright abuse at pretty much anyone who came near their touchline.

From the outset it was clear that this was to be no walk in the park. HAC aren’t top of their league for no reason, and it was evident that their pack were intent on playing the tight game that seemed to suit them. The early exchanges were limited to a missed penalty from both sides as the two teams found their rhythm.

The breakthrough came after 20 minutes when turnover ball on the Horsham 10m line was followed by some quick hands to send Liam Yeates away up the touchline to put Horsham 5-0 up.

Mindful of how quickly opponents can come back after a conceding a try Horsham were determined not to let the same thing happen again. Unfortunately no-one had informed HAC of this, and a series of strong drives by their pack allowed the 10 to break and step inside some suspect tackling to make it 5-5. Cue some encouraging words from Captain Splatts under the posts, and it was back to work.

Play was soon interrupted by a scream that rocked the very foundations of the earth. As far afield as Crawley and Cowfold babes were woken from their sleep, women did cover their ears and grown men bowed their heads and raised their hands to the sky, preparing for the Armageddon that was surely coming. But all was well. After a bit of strapping and a lollipop from Mandy, Jonathan Whiting’s finger was put back in and he carried on like nothing had happened. Back to the action…

HAC again mounted a strong attack, but some resolute defence and a great turnover by returning flanker Seth Wise relieved the pressure. Soon after a cross-field kick from fly half Angelo was gathered on the bounce by Sam Rice and he streaked (not that kind of streak, there were children present) up the pitch to dot down. Will Johnson struck the conversion and the score was 12-5.

Horsham’s confidence was now up, and it showed. Again opting to run from the 22, the plays up the left hand side of the pitch opened up space out wide. A loose pass was collected by Captain Fantastic and popped out to roaming prop Neal Holden. HAC had already encountered the full fury of the ‘Holden Trundle’ and this drew in the defenders, allowing Neal to feed the pass out to veteran winger Dan Bourne. Stepping back inside the fullback it took a moment for him to realise he’d actually broken the line, before accelerating away to score under the posts. Johnson converted, 19-5.

5 minutes later and another penalty on the Horsham 22 saw Angelo calling for the quick tap. Hands put Johnson away, drawing the last man before Rice was off up the touchline again to make it 26-5.

Disaster struck when the spindly Rice broke himself by hitting a ruck (now we know why that’s the first ruck anyone’s ever seen him hit), but Horsham were determined to carry on without him. Almost too eager in fact. And no-one actually saw what happened to him. Hmmm. Anyhoo, pressure on HAC forced a poor clearance kick which was returned with interest by Matt ‘Belly’ Brown, beating three defenders to score in the corner. Half time 31-5.

And then it all nearly went so horribly wrong. No-one’s entirely sure what happened at half time, but HAC came out of the blocks fired and ready to go, while Horsham seemed to have gone into cruise control. HAC started putting the ball through the hands and hitting passes at speed, and while Horsham put in some big hits and strong defence they were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over during the second half. 4 unanswered tries narrowed Horsham’s apparently unassailable 31-5 half time lead down to 31-26, and ensured a very nervous last 3 minutes.

Thankfully Horsham dug deep to hold HAC out from scoring the final try, and survived the kind of fightback that in previous seasons would probably have resulted in last minute defeat. Good seasons are made by securing tight wins, and while the final scoreline was disappointing given how the first half finished the final result was the key.

Thanks to HAC for an outstanding game. For a match that ended as close as it did the game was remarkably free of flare ups, and was played in a great spirit. Well-earned beers all round for both sides.

For those of you that are concerned about Whiting’s injury, the diagnosis wasn’t great. It looks as though he won’t be able to go for a Mani-Pedi for at least 2 weeks, and the doctors aren’t sure that they’ll be able to save the French Polish. We’re thinking of you big guy.