Horsham stay third with win in the rain

Horsham’s good form continued in atrocious conditions with a hard fought win away at Ashford and keep the Green and Whites third in the table.

In an error strewn match any passages of fluent handling rugby were at a premium in the driving rain and it was Horsham who exerted the greater control however it was not until the 75th minute that they were able to score their fourth and bonus point try.

Horsham head coach Nick Stoker said: “It was a tough day at the office for us in awful conditions. I am however delighted that we came away with our objective of a four try bonus point win.”

Horsham dominated territory and possession from the outset as they moved the ball left and right in an effort to seek openings in the resolute Ashford defence, and fly-half James Johnson was on hand to vary the play with long diagonal kicks to the corner. From one such Will Bell was the quickest to follow up and tackle when the ball was fielded five yards short of the try line but Ashford cleared the danger.

The pattern of play was established with Horsham doing most of the attacking but handling errors in the wet conditions prevented this dominance being reflected on the scoreboard.

Jerry Downey made a 30 yard break down the left wing following a Richard Tredgett take off the top of the line-out and a wide pass from Johnson, and shortly afterwards Giles Barber made a storming run which was carried on by Richard Tredgett but his pass to his brother Michael was not held when a try looked certain.

Then on 16 minutes the deadlock was broken. Andy Gray made a strong direct run through the middle, checked and then went again before passing to Barber who was first in support to score. The conversion attempt was missed and Horsham’s lead was 5-0.

Horsham attacked again and then ball was spun right but Michael Tredgett couldn’t hold the pass in the wet conditions when the Green and Whites were threatening, and then Richard Tredgett left the field following a collision with his brother and was replaced by Jonny Whiting.

Ashford still occasionally threatened through more isolated attacks and a clever grubber kick required a sliding clearance from Bell to repel the danger. Arun Thompson and Gray made some big tackles to shut out the home side and then Bell made a huge clearance kick downfield.

Horsham had the edge in the scrums but another handling error saw Ashford gain 40 yards, and the closest they came to scoring was when full back Rhys Fussell made a bulldozing run over the top of the attempted Horsham tackle but his pass was not held when a score looked certain.

Gray made the hard yards then the danger was relieved when Johnson made a long kick to clear his lines.

With half time beckoning, and Horsham again on the attack, Simon Gaynor made a surging run, carried on by Johnny Ordidge who found Thompson in support who had the legs to clear the final defenders, and with the try converted by Bell the Green and Whites took a 12-0 lead in to the break.

In the second half the game start to get a bit niggly in the difficult conditions as the errors continued. When Horsham’s backs were penalised for offside, Ashford spilled the pass from the quick tap penalty when a try under the posts looked likely.

Josh Mills then counter-attacked, ducked under an attempted high tackle, and made a grubber kick which was chased hard by Mike Watts but Ashford cleared the danger. Shortly after Michael Tredgett and Thompson linked up before Liam Brady was hauled down just short.
Then on 62 minutes after multi-phase play, Watts did well to gather a Johnson pass before stepping in off his wing to go on a weaving run and Horsham take a 17-0 lead following a missed conversion.

Jonny Whiting made a powerful run and when on 75 minutes with time running out to score the bonus point try, Horsham were awarded a five yard scrum and Michael Tredgett made no mistake from the base of the scrum and powered over the line. Matt McCabe had taken over the kicking duties from Bell whom had left the field injured but his conversion bounced back off the upright and Horsham lead 22-0.
There was still time for Ashford to score a well worked consolation try by centre Peter Walsh.

Stocker summed up: “We have closed the gap on Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells when we were nowhere near our fluid best. We were dominant at the set piece and adapted to the injuries we faced during the game.

If I had a criticism it was that we were guilty of playing too much rugby, spinning the ball from too deep and not playing for territory. Although we never looked like losing, Ashford were able to frustrate and slow our ball down and our ambition got the better if us.”

Horsham’s next game is away to Sussex rivals Crowborough on 21 November.

Horsham: Bell; Watts, Ordidge, McCabe; J Johnson, Mills; Barber, Stone, Talbot (Brady 45); R Tredgett (Whiting 20), Gaynor; Smith, Thompson, Gray (M Tredgett 40)