Horsham v Folkestone Away - 3rd November

Horsham travelled to Folkestone with hopes of securing a first win in 2 seasons. Traditionally, matches between both sides have been close affairs and league positions have been comparable until recent seasons when Folkestone have had the edge. This season, Horsham have started the better in the league but with an exciting set of backs, Folkestone were not to be taken lightly – especially on their own patch.

Horsham fielded a few changes in the backs from the week previously with Craig Wilkinson partnering with Johnny Ordidge in the centres and Matt Brown moving to 10 and Simon Matterface returning to the starting line-up in the second row following 3 weeks away. The changes did little to alter Horsham’s rhythm with Horsham;s forwards allowing field position to be gained and eventually earning a kickable penalty which was converted by Mark Brandon after 5 minutes 0-3

On 9 minutes, Horsham pressure in defence saw Johnny Ordidge make a fine tackle on the Folkestone 10 who spilt the ball. In the process of latching onto the loose ball, Craig Wilkinson was close to breaking through, but spilt the ball under pressure from the Folkestone centre. From the resulting scrum, with the Folkestone Number 8 electing to pick and go, the defensive press on the blind side saw Sam Rice pressure the winger into a fumble and Sam promptly pounced on the loose ball and sprinted in from the Folkestone 22m to score an unconverted try. 0-8

This set the tone. Horsham were winning the collisions. Any ball that Folkestone had was pressured and as a result of the crunching tackle on the Folkestone 10 leading up to the 1st Horsham try, Folkestone’s backline failed to find cohesion and as such lacked bite. Horsham had the better of the field position and having got to grips with the Folkestone scrum, were now imposing themselves in the set piece. After 32 minutes, following several forward drives at the line, the ball was passed right and eventually found skipper Matt Brown who dummied his old University housemate and Folkestone Skipper Richard Lama to score a converted try 0-15

He promptly followed his score up by getting himself yellow carded for attempting the interception only to be judged as a deliberate knock on, The following minute, Sam Rice was likewise binned which left Horsham playing against a strong set of backs with 2 players down for 9 minutes either side of half time. At the start of the second half, despite the efforts on display by Tyler Aitkin and Rob Clegg at fullback and 7 respectively, Folkestone made use of the overlap in the backs to score out wide on 44 mins. 5 – 15. This period was characterised by Folkestone running everything in the hope of securing a second try but coming up against stubborn Horsham defence and no small degree of flair as Horsham themselves came close to scoring from a fine flowing move.

With a full complement on the pitch for less than 5 minutes, Horsham suffered a 3rd yellow card for supposed illegal use of the boot. Despite playing with 14 men, Horsham continued to exert pressure and following a long passage of play in the 57th minute which saw the ball turn over several times, James Whiting, having made his first appearance back from injury from the bench read the Folkestone backs play and intercepted a pass and scored a converted try under the posts. 5-22

Horsham were now within sight of a 4 try bonus point and with the dominance at set play and the contact area evident, the final 20 minutes saw Horsham slowly pile on the pressure playing rugby in Folkestone’s half and doing simple things well. Horsham secured a series of scrums in the Folkestone 22m and using the power proceeded to attempt the push over try. On two occasions the Folkestone pack were penalised. On a 3rd occasion, with the pack in retreat and advantage being played. Mark Brandon at 9 opted to spin the ball wide to Will Johnson on the wing who stepped inside his man to score the 4th try on 78 minutes. This was unconverted leaving the score 5 – 27

With the clock running down, Folkestone attacked to secure a consolation try at the death which was unconverted leaving the score 10 – 27

This was a pleasing performance from Horsham although the discipline and penalty count continues to make Horsham's dominance less dramatic. Although disappointing to earn 3 yellow cards, the fitness and energy of Horsham proved decisive. The squad continues to develop and with the next league fixtures seeing Horsham play both Maidstone and Sheppey within 3 games, the levels of concentration and ability to maintain discipline will go a long way towards deciding how successful these clashes will be.