Horsham's aspirations get stuck in the mud

With games being cancelled throughout Kent and Sussex due to adverse weather conditions, there was doubt as to whether the match would go ahead, but the correct decision was made to play the game even though in the wind and rain the heavy ground was a leveler and reduced the game to an arm wrestle between the two sides.

The spirit of the Beccehamians side belied their lowly league position and perhaps there was an air of complacency about Horsham with more difficult fixtures, on paper at least, on the horizon.

Indeed with two players in the sin bin for the last ten minutes, the Green and Whites were hanging on at the end defending their try line in a game they might well have lost. Horsham struggled to establish their habitual command at the scrum although the line out functioned well.

There was little flow or pattern to the game and the Beccehamians half backs played the conditions better than their Horsham counterparts by using the wind to pin the Green and Whites into defending the left hand corner of the pitch.

In a game that was inevitably going to be attritional, Horsham found it difficult to break out of their half in the face of determined defence. Beccehamians managed to slow Horsham’s ball down, passes were going astray, possession was error strewn, and the Green and Whites could not create any phases to their game without being penalised. Horsham did not help themselves by trying to run the ball out of defence a little more often than the conditions allowed when perhaps playing the percentages and kicking for territory should have been the order of the day.

Having absorbed a period of pressure including a Beccehamians five yard scrum, Horsham gradually attained some ascendancy but neither side was able to trouble the scoreboard.

On 12 minutes Paul Talbot and Jordan Smith linked well to launch Horsham’s first meaningful counter attack, and then James Whiting sliced open the Beccehamians defence from a well executed backs move to offload to the supporting Jamie Gibbs who was hauled down just short of the posts.

Later in the half Horsham created the platform to score from a rolling maul but poor execution lead to a penalty being conceded and the pressure on the Beccehamians line was relieved.

On 35 minutes the first penalty attempt from kicking range from either side saw Will Bell take Horsham into a 3-0 lead, and on the stroke of half time Beccehamians had the chance to level the scores but a kickable opportunity was missed.

Due to the lack of continuity and in an attempt to spark to the team into life, Horsham rang the changes from the bench early in the second half, but were unable to establish any dominance.

Nick Bell and Jonny Whiting made a succession of big tackles as penalty kicks were exchanged and the dogfight continued.

Horsham’s frustration increased with their inability to put any fluency on their game as they held on to a narrow 6-3 lead going into the last ten minutes and both Jake Lowe and Jonny Whiting were yellow carded.

The thirteen men bravely defended the try line as Beccehamians leveled the scores with a penalty in a result which suited neither side and a game that will not live long in the memory.

Horsham coach Nick Stocker was clearly disappointed “We should have played with the same intensity as in recent weeks but we left three clear cut scoring opportunities out on the pitch. There was an element of complacency and also rustiness following the Christmas break with too many players below par.

I thought Jake Lowe had a good game with his line out throwing, playing for the 1st XV for the first time this season, and Will Bell did well when he went to nine.

Credit should be given to Beccehamians for being the first side to stop us scoring a try so far this season and this was a salutary lesson for the rest of our campaign if we are to fulfil our aspirations."

Horsham’s next game is at home to Ashford on Saturday January 11.

Horsham: Talbot (capt), Lowe (Penfold 78), Barber; Jonny Whiting, Grover; Smith (Fisher 49), Nick Bell, Ordidge; Rush (Goward 49), Price; James Whiting, Taylor, Gibbs, Will Bell; Sam Bell