Horsham come from behind again to win against Darts

LONDON 1 SOUTH
Saturday 25th January 2020
Horsham 34-27 Dartfordians
Report by Richard Ordidge

Horsham completed the double this season over long-time rivals Dartfordians with a 34-27 away win in Bexley, which was their sixth successive victory. The two clubs were in the doldrums in the mid 2000’s playing their rugby in the domestic Sussex and Kent leagues but since then they have both been upwardly mobile with three promotions into London 1 South.

The Green and Whites are having the better time of it at the moment having edged into the top half of the table, hot on the heels of Belsize Park in sixth place, whereas Dartfordians are in a battle for survival at the lower reaches of the league.

Horsham were required to mount another comeback, this time from 12 points down. They dropped the ball from the kick-off and following the scrum the ball was spun wide for full back Joe Scott to run a nice line and open the scoring with a try in the corner. This was followed by a converted try from Alex Cappucio conceded from turnover ball and good direct running and offloads. Dartfordians were playing all the rugby, could have added a third try, and after 8 minutes were leading 12-0, but were to later regret not killing Horsham off during their purple patch.

The Green and Whites responded with a fine try from Max Paterson, when a strong first phase scrum and a great line break by Harrison Sims saw him make a long pass to Paterson to use his pace to score in the corner. Dartfordians came back with a penalty kick from Jonny Regnier before a several phase try was finished by Declan Nwachukwu from advantage played converted by Sims for Horsham to go into the half-time break 15-12 down.

Paterson left the field following a knock he received in the first half to be replaced by Josh Sudder after the interval. Horsham scored three tries in quick succession and were now hitting their stride. Good direct rugby saw the rewind of the ball and after Sims dummied inside he finished well out wide. He was then unsuccessful with his conversion attempt hitting the post but Horsham had taken a 17-15 lead for the first time in the game after 43 minutes.

A great first phase try from a scrum and a backs set piece move saw Marcus Condon finish well for the four try bonus point, and then the Green and Whites scored another first phase try scored from scrum ball in Horsham’s own half spun wide and Sudder ran in from 20 metres out.
Kieran Clarke responded for Dartfordians with a try scored from a line-out drive but Nwachukwu finished off any likelihood of the visitors losing the game with Horsham’s sixth try following good scrum ball and a missed tackle in midfield to race away to score converted by Sims to lead 34-20.

There was still time for Dartfordians man of the match Scott to weave through the Horsham defence to score his second try and the hosts hammered away in the face of a strong Horsham defence in attempt to score a converted try to level the scores, forcing a yellow card to Josh Earle, but ran out of time.

Horsham Head Coach Nick Stocker said after the game: “For the third week in succession we allowed the opposition to get their tails up and create a two-score lead. Dartfordians started at a fast pace playing good offloading rugby and with the journey still in our legs, we did well to contain the start. As our set piece started to fire, so too did our patterns of play and by halftime we were the more composed and right back in it.

A quick-fire salvo just after halftime of hard running rugby from set piece and great lines in the backs saw us gain the lead and never look back.
Particularly pleasing was the way we adapted to the changes in the squad with all players contributing well. The forwards were once again excellent in their set piece providing the back line with a great platform to launch attacks from. Indeed, with two 18 year olds and three 19 year olds in the backs together with Declan at the grand old age of 22, the potential in the back line is frightening.

Whilst there were lots of good performances today, man of the match went to Will Grief today for his all-round game which saw him play in both back row positions, at 12, wing and even full back. He was a handful with his carrying, great in the tackle and made telling contributions throughout.

Next week we welcome Thurrock who we had the tightest of finishes against last time. Without doubt they will be up for this return and it promises to be a very entertaining match.”

Horsham: Condon; Nwachukwu, Sims, Ordidge, Paterson (Sudder); Chennell, Linfield; Bell N (Earle), Fairs, Barber; Osgood, Goward; Smith J, Grief (Cass), Smith J