Horsham 1st XV Win despite not playing their best

Horsham 1st XV travelled to Vigo keen to record the first away victory of this year’s campaign against unknown opposition recently promoted to the London leagues. Preparation had been hampered by injuries to a number of the Horsham 3 quarters including influential skipper Matt Brown, James Whiting and Will Johnson. The forwards saw injured Johnny Whiting replaced by the returning Ryan Grover and with Iain Fisher stepping up to 8, Johnny Ordidge moved back from 8 to 12 and turned in a man of the match performance in the centres. With 3 big fixtures across the club, the decision to travel with 16 players was a gamble which paid off with the final result 39-6 recorded and a bonus point victory to move Horsham up to 4th in the league.

The game’s early exchanges saw Horsham secure several phases of possession deep in Vigo’s half and showing some glimpses of the teamwork that would be required to breakdown this spirited Vigo side, Horsham were perhaps a little too ambitious early on with passes and offloads not going to hand. The result allowed possession to be regained by Vigo and with an initially strong scrum, managed to clear their lines and work their way into a kickable position after 8 minutes leaving the score 3-0.

After 15 minutes, more Horsham possession managed to draw the defensive line offside and after failing to make use of the advantage, the penalty was kicked from in front of the posts by Mark Brandon leaving the score 3-3.

Horsham were not playing with the fluidity that they are capable of and too many errors in contact, passing and handling had seen 2 scoring opportunities gone begging. Most notably when a 5m scrum was pushing the Vigo pack backwards and the ball squirmed free requiring the need to pass the ball wide into well defended channels. Additionally, during this phase, Rob Hoskins also scored but the referee was unsighted and the try was not awarded. Eventually however, pressure from Jamie Gibbs in defence saw him kick through and gather the ball for a try converted by Mark Brandon leaving the scores 3-10 after 25 mins.

After 30 minutes, a careless penalty saw Vigo move the ball quickly out to their speedy winger in space. Beating the cover defence, he was well tackled by Tyler Aitkin and a subsequent penalty at the ruck was penalised by a well taken kick by Vigo leaving the scores 6-10.

Vigo were still in the game and Horsham frustration was building with an inability to string phases together. Horsham did however retain a cutting edge in attack and following a scrum against the head, the ball was shipped wide to Sam Rice on the wing. Beating his winger with a fine step, he was well supported by Tyler Aitkin who scored a try converted by Mark Brandon leaving the scores 6-17 at half time.

The half time team talk focussed on cutting out errors, developing phase play and generally upping the game. The message was received with an altogether better performance in the second half with new 10 Will Bell gradually exerting more influence on where Horsham played its rugby. On 42 minutes, following several phases of play involving multiple players, Jamie Gibbs scored his second of the match out wide which was duly converted by Mark Brandon – 6-24

Despite losing Iain Fisher to the sin bin for a high tackle, Horsham continued to press Vigo’s play. By now, Horsham’s fitness had come to the fore and were easily in control at scrum and contact area. From one scrum in Vigo’s 22m, a first phase move saw Will bell draw defenders and put Sam Rice through a hole to score under the posts and subsequently converted by Mark Brandon – 66 minutes played and the 4 try bonus point achieved leaving the score 6-31

Although Vigo did enjoy phases of possession in dangerous positions, the defensive line and attitude kept Vigo at bay and after one such phase in defence after 72 minutes, Horsham ran the ball from scrum in Horsham’s 22m. Johnny Ordidge, broke the defensive line and showing a deceptive turn of pace for a big man powered through into the Vigo half. Well supported by Jamie Gibbs, Tyler Aitkin and Sam Rice, Johnny regained the ball 5m out from the try line and scored his second try in as many weeks. The try went unconverted – 6 – 36

Horsham continued to play and following another foray into Vigo’s half, a penalty awarded to Horsham was duly converted by Mark Brandon to bring the game to a close and the final score 6 – 39

Vigo proved to be awkward opponents and were spirited throughout. Their approach to the game created a lack of cohesion in Horsham’s play and it took until half time before Horsham’s control of the game brought dividends. Horsham will need to continue to work on reducing its error rate and play more percentage rugby if we are to reduce an opponent’s opportunities. Although attractive to watch, a tendency to force the pass and not capitalise on the chances created will cause problems in the closer contests which this league will throw up. Despite these developmental areas, the approach remains positive and work ethic is strong. We now take this forward into a home fixture against undefeated Ashford who will offer a stern test of our abilities across the park in what will undoubtedly be an entertaining game at Coolhurst next week.