Youthful Green and Whites in improved defensive display

The Green and Whites secured a bonus point before half-time as Canice Gonzague and Will Bell pounced on Crowborough mistakes, Jordan Smith added a third and Gonzague completed his brace running in from 35 yards.

Bell on kicking duties made four conversions as they led 28-3 at the break, before a disjointed second-half display saw Horsham brandished three yellow cards as they conceded twice.

Horsham head coach Nick Stocker praised his young, much-changed team for an improved display. He said: “We asked for an improved defensive performance and better line speed and this was delivered in abundance with three tries scored from stifling pressure on the Crowborough players when our attack had put us into a good field position.

The scrum was strong throughout although got no reward from the referee, the dominance and attack structure was good with a number of opportunities created but not converted.

The only downside was the penalty count where we must have conceded 30 penalties and got given three yellow cards.

Normally a team struggling with the referee’s law interpretation in such fashion would not win, let alone score four tries, however, with the players that are missing, the changes to the back line and a very young front row, we are pleased with the result.”

After not taking two early opportunities against a kicking Crowborough, Horsham took the lead on 11 minutes as a loose ball from a Will Johnson tackle was gathered by Gonzague, who scored with Bell converting.

Crowborough pulled a penalty back and then missed a second, while Bell touched down Horsham’s second after a box kick by Joey Walker.

A tackle steal by Jonny Whiting on 31 minutes saw him spin right to Will Johnson, who offloaded to Jordan Smith to score, while Gonzague beat three defenders on the stroke of half-time for his second.

In the second half, Crowborough’s few forays were well contained by Horsham’s defence, despite receiving the first of three yellow cards due to the penalty count rising.

Horsham were still threatening, but a combination of poor supporting lines or overrun of ball saw opportunities missed. Crowborough scored on 65 minutes and they touched down again with the clock deep into time added on when the Green and Whites had two players in the sin bin.