Horsham make it three from three

This week's report courtesy of Matt Goodsir...

GREEN ARMY!!!!!!!

Well done everyone, cracking game. After last week at Crawley the boys were on a high, but we needed to get our heads out of the clouds and realise what a tough test we had ahead. With the realisation that Eastbourne were bringing players back for this game and we had already lost twice the previous season, we knew what was ahead!

The game kicked off and it was clear from the start just how fast-paced and open this game was going to be.

Two minutes into the game Horsham won ball just inside their own half, stacked the blindside with GREEN and with quick hands from Browna and Goodsir opened the gap for Bourno to open his legs a little. With the last man to beat the inside pass to Splatts finished it, and he galloped in for the first try. Browna converted, 7-0.

Horsham secured the kick off and again built the phases, playing in the Eastbourne half. Seven minutes in and from a Horsham lineout outside the 22, it was time for Neal 'The Beast' Holden to take the ball up and hit the hard line. He was brought down just inside the 22, but quick ball supplied by the forwards and a perfect pass from Rob Hoskins made the 2nd try of the game for Horsham, as Goodsir picked a line and under he went. Converted again, 14-0.

Still on a high from the early two scores Horsham lost concentration and allowed Eastbourne to come back into the game. Lots of very open play saw a lot of line breaks and turn over ball, which led to Horsham's downfall in the 16th minute when a player in Green was left exposed, and with quick turnover ball Eastbourne were back in the game at 14-5

Under the posts Splatts got the composure of the team back, and the realisation that we were still winning was vital.

Again Horsham went back at Eastbourne in what was still a very open game, and I think we can safely say that both teams' organisation in defence was suspect. A further 8 minutes went before Horsham ran a strike move in the the Eastbourne half, but slow hands caught Horsham out, as Eastbourne intercepted a loopy pass and went in the length of the pitch. No names mentioned, but cheers Jonny O.

14-12, little bit of a scare for Horsham, but the GREEN ARMY had self belief.

Horsham bounced back, and needing a try to settle before half time we hit back,with Neal again taking the ball up, before quick 2nd phase ball and powerful running from Jonny Ordidge put him over to make it 19-12.

HALF TIME

Both teams came out after the break fired up, leading to a 20 minute standstill with no points put on the board. Mistakes weere made and the open flowing game of before had been forgotten. Give credit where it was due Horsham found themselves being matched in the forwards, the front row of Eastbourne being very strong and the tighter game suiting them.

With around 20 minutes to go Horsham found themselves in a good position. It was vital that we remained composed, the realisation that we had already scored 2 tries from the same sort of position gave us a calm confidence that something would come of this. It did, and the Eastbourne defence opened after some excellent work from the forwards to secure quick ball put Jonny O in for his 2nd. Bearing in mind he was already getting DOTD for the interception pass he nearly threw away a 3 man overlap by taking the ball up in a very selfish manner......we love you really Ord. 24-12

With the game coming to close Horsham took the game by the scruff of the neck, playing in Eastbourne territory. Time was always going to favour Horsham, as the endless pre season training and the fitness paid off once more. With minutes to go our veteran South African Angelo took tyhe ball to the gain line, put on the wheels and gave a cheeky offload to Jonny Whiting to go over for the fifth try. Final score 29-12.

3 from 3 for Horsham after a good team performance with high spirits and another win on this season's mission

GREEN ARMY

I would just like to say well played to Eastbourne, a really good game played in a competitive spirit and we felt we had a really good test against a useful outfit. We look forward to coming to your place.

TEAM

1. Adam Harman 2. Rob Grantham-Hill 3. Neal Holden 4. Greg Holt 5. Simon Matterface (c) 6. Ryan Grover 7. Iain Fisher 8. Jonathan Whiting 9. Rob Hoskins 10. Angelo Shepherd 11. Dan Bourne 12. Jonny Ordidge 13. Matt Brown 14. James Whiting 15. Matthew Goodsir

16. Nick Bell 17. Seth Wise 18. Tom Wright