Last minute try seals victory for Horsham 1stXV.

Following Horsham’s disappointing defeat away to Gillingham Anchorians in the opening league fixture, Horsham welcomed Tunbridge Wells at Coolhurst with the knowledge that they would have to perform a lot better in this fixture in order to register the first league win. Tunbridge Wells were in confident mood given the mauling of local rivals Pulborough the week previously and with perfect pitch and weather conditions, a close exciting game was anticipated.

Fielding 6 changes in the backs from the week previously, most notably moving centre Johnny Ordidge to number 8 as a result of availabilities and injury, Horsham were likely to sacrifice some handling fluency for speed and bulk at the contact area. Indeed this was to be the key battle in the outcome of this match, where the week previously Horsham had not performed to par. Veteran flanker Rob Clegg was selected to bring his usual abrasiveness and physicality at the breakdown and combined with Scott Price at 6 combined to slow the opposition ball down and effect crucial turnovers throughout the match and in so doing nullify quality ball for the Tunbridge Wells backs.

The first 15 minutes set the pattern for the game. Horsham dominant at scrum, having the better of possession and territory but silly mistakes allowing Tunbridge Wells to relieve pressure and create some of their own. With the referee particularly hot on the tackler rolling away, Horsham conceded two kickable penalties that were missed. Horsham would continue to give away silly penalties at crucial stages and indeed would prove influential in the latter stages of the match.

After 20 minutes, Horsham disrupted the Tunbridge line out and from the resulting ruck were awarded a kickable penalty that was duly converted by Mark Brandon who was playing at 10 this weekend. 3-0

On 25 minutes, an attack into the Horsham 22m was repelled and with the quality possession from scrum, Horsham attacked the blind side. The aforementioned fluidity was missing as the ball carrier ran out of options and tried to execute a clearance kick only to find the Tunbridge Wells left winger who ran the ball back linking well with his remaining backs. With a penalty conceded, a Horsham player inexplicably gave the ball back to the Tunbridge Wells players who gleefully tapped a quick penalty and was behind the Horsham defence and over for a try before the home side had time to re-align. Clearly this lapse of concentration needed eradicating if a victory was to be achieved. 3-5 after 25 minutes

2 minutes later, a strong carry from Johnny Whiting resulted in a penalty for not rolling away which was duly converted by Mark Brandon to re-gain the lead – 6-5 after 27 minutes which was to remain the score until half time despite both sides missing kickable penalties.

With the half time talk focussed only on cutting out the silly errors and focussing on Horsham’s dominance up front, the home team worked their way into the Tunbridge Wells 22m and were awarded a 5m scrum out to the right. With the front row of Giles Barber, Adam Day and Matt Stone causing all manner of problems in Tunbridge Wells’ pack, a penalty try was awarded due to persistent infringements at the scrum. Duly converted by Mark Brandon, the score at 53 minutes stood at 13-5

Horsham had now established a platform from which to build and in the same vein as the first half where the possession and territory statistics showed clearly in Horsham’s favour, Tunbridge Wells would not capitulate and remained in touch through good defence, expansive play and Horsham’s penalty count. Indeed, had Tunbridge Wells kicker been on form, the result may well have swung the other way given that he missed a further 2 penalties to go with the 2 in the first half. Horsham likewise missed 2 shots at goal which would have settled the team further going into the last 10 minutes with the score still finely balanced at 13-5.

After 75 mins the referee gave an inexplicable penalty at scrum for the Horsham front row standing up. Given the dominance at scrum this decision was odd in the extreme but was duly converted by Tunbridge Wells to get within bonus point territory.

The tense finish was to get worse with Horsham indiscipline allowing Tunbridge to clear their lines well and set up a lineout mid way between the Horsham 10m and 22m lines. With the referee missing the skewed lineout throw, and a subsequent dropped ball which he adjudged to be sideways, the Tunbridge Wells backs capitalised on the Horsham hesitancy and scored a well taken try in the right corner to tie the score at 13-13 after 78 minutes with the conversion missed.

With Tunbridge Wells clearly delighted at this turnaround, Horsham gathered for one final attack and kicked off. The Horsham chasers disrupted the Tunbridge catch and the loose ball was snapped up by winger Sam Rice who spun out of a tackle and offloaded to Johnny Ordidge arriving at pace. Outstripping the defence he sold a final dummy to the Tunbridge winger and powered through the fullback to score at the end of time. The conversion was missed leaving the score at 18-13 after 80 minutes.

With the final play to follow, the drama was not quite over as a simple Horsham catch and kick to touch to end play was not executed and the kick was charged down and turned over by the desperate Tunbridge pack. A knock on immediately following the kick brought the tense encounter to a finish to the delight of the Horsham players and crowd.

The game was a big improvement on the previous weeks and most encouragingly, showed much room for improvement. Discipline at the breakdown and defensive alignment was suspect but is readily rectified which would reduce the opponents ability to stay in the game. Handling was prone to errors as expected from the multiple changes in the back line. Positives were the set piece which continued to look strong where man of the match performance was awarded to prop Adam Day. Energy levels remained high on account of fitness levels and physicality in the tackle with some notable hits made by the backs were plus points. Additionally the introduction of Jo Wilde into the backs for skipper Matt Brown after 50 minutes demonstrated that the pipeline for young talent is well stocked setting the tone with some fine probing kicks and in doing so kept the pressure on Tunbridge to play from deep in their half. Although Tunbridge will undoubtedly feel disappointed with the end result having fought back to a drawing position, the fact that they never allowed Horsham to take full control but similarly were second best at multiple phases of the game suggests a Horsham win was the right result. It will certainly add spice for the return fixture later in the season.