Horsham too passive

Having got back to form with two good wins and climbed to third in the table Horsham’s inconsistency returned as they lost a hard fought encounter with Old Colfeians.

Old Colfeians have a powerful, competitive pack and a resolute defence which belies their present league position, and if they can field this set of players every week will surely win more games than they will lose.

In difficult, sticky conditions underfoot, neither side was able to display much fluency, and running rugby was at a premium.

Horsham head coach Nick Stocker was frustrated that his side did not play to his expectations. He said: “If we play to our patterns and potential then I absolutely believe that no team in the league can live with us. The problem is we only do this intermittently. I was disappointed with our intensity, the penalty count, our discipline and our lack of energy.

We showed little glimpses of what we can offer when we started running directly sending Johnny up the middle but too often passes were not going to hand and we lacked the mental alertness to take those opportunities. There was a lack of appetite and focus.”

With the diagonal wind at their backs Old Colfeians started the more strongly and had the nudge in the early scrums. Following a scrum turnover Horsham were slow to clear a loose ball and Jack Potter was the first to pounce and score a converted try.
Horsham were under pressure conceding penalties and were fortunate when Old Colfeians missed a kick at goal to extend their lead.

The Green and Whites then responded against the run of play with an opportunist try when following a couple of phases Matt McCabe chipped the ball over the defensive line for Mike Watts to hack on from the half-way line and win the chase to touch down under the posts. The conversion from Will Bell leveled the scores at 7-7.

Horsham continued to absorb pressure and Ollie Harcus was yellow carded as a result of the cumulative penalty count. After a long period camped on the Horsham try line, Steve Howard crashed through to score for Old Colfeians.

This appeared to galvanise Horsham to raise their game and although Bell missed with a shot at goal, Johnny Ordidge was sent crashing up the middle to win the penalty for Bell to narrow the deficit at half–time to 14-10.

Old Colfeians again started the second half more quickly than Horsham and following a high tackle, Potter kicked for the corner and from the line-out impressive prop Chris O’Malley bustled over to score to take a commanding 21-10 lead.

Horsham immediately bounced back playing more directly and following some good multi-phase play, Will Johnson scored a great try in the corner, his first upon his return to the club following a sojourn at Chippenham. The conversion was missed but the momentum was now with Horsham as the deficit was narrowed to 21-15.

It was difficult for the players to maintain their footing in the sticky conditions and there were a lot of handling errors by both sides. Andy Gray made a powerful surge and Rob Grantham-Hill secured a great steal at the breakdown and with Horsham camped on the Old Colfeians try line they lost a player to the sin bin from cumulative offences and when awarded a penalty, Bell slotted the kick off the inside of the upright to take the score to 21-18.

With Old Colfeians playing out the final minutes with fourteen men, Horsham were applying all the pressure and Harcus made a powerful break to set up the position to win a penalty. With shades of the England v Wales game at the Rugby World Cup in mind as to whether to opt for the kick at goal to level the scores, or kick for the corner for the catch and drive and the more speculative chance of a try to win the match, captain Richard Tredgett asked Bell to go for goal but the kick went wide and Old Colfeians hung on for a 21-18 win.

Stocker added: “Old Colfeians are a side that are used to playing this level of rugby having always been in this league or higher. In London 2 each team can beat each other but we just did not turn up, we didn’t play our patterns and couldn’t get our strike runners moving.

We shouldn’t have been in the position that we were relying on a kick in the last minute to get a result. It is the player’s responsibility to be prepared and up to speed so that they deliver on the day.

Too many individuals did not play to the level expected and my man of the match went to Richard Tredgett who was one of the few who did not let his standards slip. I expect to see a reaction at training and in next week’s game.”

Horsham’s next fixture is at home to fellow promoted side Dartfordians, who are presently one place higher in the league, on 16 January for what is sure to be another competitive and close encounter.

Horsham: Bell; W Johnson, J Johnson, Ordidge, Watts, McCabe (Wilde), Mills; Talbot, Grantham-Hill, Brady (Fisher); R Tredgett (capt), Whiting; Harcus, Gray, M Tredgett (Gaynor)