Horsham rattle the leaders

Horsham came close to causing the shock of the day until they conceded a late try against promotion favourites Sevenoaks. The Kent side currently boast a 100% winning record topping the table but this was their narrowest margin of victory in the season to date.

Horsham head coach Nick Stocker summed up the game by saying: “It was two really evenly matched sides going at it hammer and tongs and the result could have gone either way.”

On a wet and windy day Sevenoaks kicked off into the elements and the pattern of the game was soon established. Horsham were exerting pressure in the tight but were conceding scrum penalties when seemingly having the upper hand.

James Johnson used the wind and made long clearance kicks to good advantage and when the ball went wide Declan Nwachukwu appeared to have the beating of his man.

Sevenoaks then showed that their three quarter line was also a threat but after some good inter passing their left winger cut inside when try looked certain.

Horsham were conceding penalties regularly and when finally penalised after 26 minutes for not rolling away within kicking range Isaac Winter made no mistake.

Ollie Harcus was the first to fall on the ball following a clearance kick and passed to Johnny Ordidge who moved the ball out to Mike Watts who dummied his man on the outside and then sliced open the Sevenoaks by cutting in on an inside angle to score under the posts with the try converted by Joe Wilde.

The lead however was to be short lived because Sevenoaks responded immediately. The visitors kicked long from the restart and from Horsham’s exit play Johnson cleared diagonally to the half way line which Wilde chased hard but the Sevenoaks left winger, Dom Saunders, chipped him as he approached and as the ball bounced kindly he kicked again and showing dexterous footballing skills with the covering defence nowhere to be seen it just required one further grubber to kick the ball over the line to score a superb individual try in difficult conditions and regain the lead. The touch line conversion from Winter saw Sevenoaks take a 10-7 lead into half time.

The second half was as thrilling and keenly contested as the first. Sevenoaks extended their lead with a penalty as a Matt McCabe was yellow carded for persistent offences by the home side but Horsham made light of their numerical disadvantage. By keeping the ball alive and probing the defence through a long passage of play of multiple phases going left and then right Jonny Whiting made the crucial injection of pace and found Wilde who showed to make the pass on the outside and then cut in to beat two men from 15 yards and score under the posts and then convert his own try to regain a 14-13 lead.

Michael Tredgett made a welcome return on 60 minutes to replace Ollie Harcus for his first game for nine months having recovered from a broken wrist.

With Horsham back to full strength, Ordidge then Josh Mills made incursions through the heart of the Sevenoaks defence and from the attacking position created on 62 minutes Johnson kicked ahead and from the next phase Horsham spun the ball left for McCabe to straighten the line and send Nwachukwu over to extend the lead to 19-13.

Horsham then appeared to switch off defensively as within a minute of the restart, Sevenoaks moved the ball wide for full back Rob Streather to score a well taken try which was unconverted to reduce the deficit to 19-18.

Then with ten minutes remaining one of the Sevenoaks back row players made a storming 30 yard run upfield before he was hauled down to create the position for Winter to step between two tacklers and score.

This set up an exhilarating finale as Horsham’s attacks became increasingly frantic as they eschewed penalty kicks at goal needing to score the winning try but without success.

Stocker concluded, “I felt we dominated in the scrum and Arun Thompson put pressure on them in the line-out. Declan looked sharp and beat his winger every time and Mike Watts was also making line breaks. We looked a bit more threatening in attack but their backs put together some good passages of play and their left winger executed his chip and chase well. Lapses in our concentration let them back in after we had scored and were six points up. They had more sharpness and it was good streetwise play by them to slow the ball down at times and we were guilty of being a little naïve. We were hurt by the penalty count against us, especially in the first half when we had the wind and didn’t capitalise on our dominance. The lack of penalties gained when we were on top in the scrums kept them in it. The penalties conceded and handing errors stopped us building momentum but it was a still a tough visit for them.”

Horsham’s next game is away to struggling Ashford on 14 November.

Horsham: Watts; Wilde, Ordidge (Hart 65), McCabe, Nwachukwu; J Johnson, Mills; Barber (Fairs 65), Stone, Talbot; Whiting, Harcus (Tredgett 60); Smith, Thompson, Gaynor