Braces from Gibbs and Rush see off Uckfield

Nick Stocker's side are on track for their highest league finish for over ten years and with only one more league game to play against already relegated Burgess Hill the focus is now on the build up to the Bob Rogers Sussex Cup Final against Lewes on April 27th.

"I thought it was a good performance to shut them out," Stocker said. "We played with a high level of intensity and our control of the scrum was good which Uckfield couldn't deal with.

Although we scored four tries in the first half, Uckfield are a disruptive team and after the break we became a little disjointed. We didn't stick to our patterns and started to force the game with too many offloads and frantic handling when the better option might have been going to ground.

Over recent weeks we have been showing a return to our good early season form which makes the mid season dip all the more frustrating because of what might have been. We now need to keep the momentum going and build for five points next week."

Jamie Gibbs opened the scoring after 3 minutes after some good continuity between forwards and backs, when the referred adjudged that he had grounded the ball before hitting the corner flag. Gibbs then added his second when he cut inside his man after good handling along the three quarter line to retake his position as Horsham's leading try scorer.

Scrum-half Ben Rush showed to pass then went through the gap to score from five yards, then hooker Matt Stone rolled back the years to show a devastating turn of speed to outpace the defence and run in from 35 yards to score the fourth try of the first half as Horsham went into the break 22-0 up.

The Green and Whites were not so clinical in the second half as Uckfield refused to lie down when only two further tries were added from Ben Pirt finishing off a ten yard driving maul and Rush adding his second try to dart over the line after multiple phases.

Stocker added "I thought the front row were excellent and Matt Stone looked particularly sharp. Ben Rush had a good game, and it was good to welcome back Jamie Gibbs and Will Johnson after long lay-offs. Tom Johnson controlled the game well from fly half and Matt Brown had a strong game in the centre. Johnny Whiting was his usual hard running self, Jordan Smith's game has gone from strength to strength however my man of the match goes to Joe Green who looks at ease having stepped up from the Lions and carried well and stole crucial line out ball."

Horsham's final league game is away to Burgess Hill on Saturday April 12th.

Horsham: Talbot (capt), Stone, Barber (Fairs 63); Whiting, Green; Price (Fisher 55), Smith, Pirt; Rush, T Johnson; Gibbs, Brown, Ordidge, Taylor; W Johnson (O'Gorman 45)