Horsham return to winning ways

Although Horsham remain in sixth place, with a game in hand on the sides above, following Thanet’s defeat they have closed the gap on the league leaders.

After the disappointments of recent weeks a delighted coach Nick Stocker said “I am pleased we got a win, especially the bonus point, and it was important to get back to winning ways. This was always going to be a tricky fixture and we have lost on the last two occasions we have visited Uckfield, and they were clearly up for it.”

The Green and Whites started at a fast pace and were awarded a penalty in the first minute for Uckfield holding on at the breakdown but the kick was missed.

Horsham then had the chance to stretch the Uckfield defence as Will Johnson broke down the left but his inside pass did not go to hand.

After 9 minutes Jonny Ordidge then ran hard at the centre of the Uckfield line and after beating a couple of defenders was brought down by a high tackle and Will Bell slotted the penalty in front of the posts.

Shortly afterwards a penalty was awarded after a powerful Horsham scrum but the attempt at goal was missed. The Green and Whites were attempting to learn the lesson of previous weeks when kickable penalties were foregone in favour of the more adventurous tactic of the tap and go or the kick for the corner but without success.

After Horsham’s failure to convert their opportunities into points, Uckfield counter attacked on 20 minutes after receiving a loose kick and fly-half Charlie Butland outflanked the Green and White defence with a kick and chase to win the foot race into the corner.

Horsham missed another couple of kicks at goal then on 31 minutes the pressure finally told when after the forwards had taken it on through a couple of phases the ball was released to the backs, and a dummy by Aled Price saw him carve open the Uckfield defence and race through under the posts and the try was converted by Bell.

The lead then changed hands a couple of times when Uckfield ran back a loose clearance kick and their Number 8 and captain Mark Caket scored following a driving maul, then on the stroke of half time, the home side were caught offside and Bell made no mistake with the kick to take Horsham into a 13-12 lead at the break.

From the start of the second period Horsham upped the intensity of their play and quickly extended their lead with a Bell penalty. Looking to extend their try tally, Ryan Grover then stole Uckfield ball from the line-out and the ball was spun wide to the left but with no yardage gained and from the next attack the ball went right and Lee Taylor nearly scored but was tackled into touch.

The handling of Horsham’s three-quarters was starting to click and Price fired out a wide pass and Jamie Gibbs came steaming through from the opposite wing off an inside ball to cross the line.

Horsham won the next scrum against the head resulting in a second try for Gibbs, and then Ordidge powered over to score the bonus point try after another scrum turnover to put the result beyond doubt. There then followed a moment of disorganisation when the failure to bring on the kicking tee in good time saw Bell have to rush his conversion attempt which might prove costly on another day.

Stocker said “Mike Penfold is my man of the match for his strong scrummaging, mobility, the breaks he made and his good hits. He stepped up to the first team today and is an example to others with his commitment to training.

Other individuals that stood out were Jamie Gibbs for his two tries, Will Johnson and Will Bell had good games interchanging between 9 and 15, and Ryan Grover in the forwards.

In the first half we were playing below our normal level, we lacked intensity and it was not an auspicious performance. I gave them a strong talking to at the break and in the second half we upped the speed of our game, played with more precision and caused them problems. Uckfield came back at us in the final 15 minutes and it was a warning that we need to play for the full 80.

I thought our scrum was good and our line-out was fine. I was disappointed with conceding a few turnovers and our kicking was loose at times. We were greedy on occasions and need to keep the ball going through the hands. We had a pushover try that went begging and probably missed four try scoring opportunities but there was a pressure on the side today and overall I am very pleased.”

Horsham’s next game is in the league at home to Bromley on Saturday December 14.

Horsham: Penfold, Grantham-Hill, Barber; Whiting, Grover (O’Rahilly 70); Smith (Bell 40), Fisher, Harman; Bell, Price; Gibbs, Ordidge, Taylor, O’Gorman (Brooker 65); Johnson (capt)