Anchorians Sunk

Horsham travelled to Gillingham Anchorians with sights firmly set on securing the 5 point win that would bring the League Title one step closer with the opportunity to seal it at home against Old Dunstonians on the 21st March.

Playing with pace and power across the park, Horsham unleased a 9 try blitz on Anchorians who had until recently become somewhat of a bogey team for Horsham. It came at a cost however with talismanic skipper Paul Talbot suffering a broken leg and now faces a race against time to get fit for the Sussex Cup final on 9th May.

The early phases of the game saw both teams feel each other out with the majority of play coming from Horsham who were playing a high tempo game and looking at stretching the opposition. Spilled balls in contact limited any early conversion of pressure to points but on 14 minutes Jamie Gibbs finished a fine flowing move that opened the scoring. With the wind making kicking difficult, the first of 6 missed kicks at goal followed.

A momentary lapse in concentration saw the defence beaten on the blind side and a serious of quick rucks saw Gillingham level the scores with an unconverted try on 17 minutes to the delight of their crowd.

10 minutes later, and with increasing pressure being applied by the Horsham team, a quick tap penalty by Ben Rush lead to a ruck 10 metres from the try line from which Johnny Whiting cut an unstoppable line and stretching his ample frame in the tackle, touched down for another unconverted try leaving the score 5-10 with 30 minutes played.

Paul Talbot suffered his injury on 35 minutes requiring a shift around in the front row with Dan Cass taking the field in the back row. With his injury, Horsham lost some of the scrum dominance that had been built up in the preceding half hour but this did not seem to unsettle the Horsham team who were now looking more assured in possession and from the restart scored a fine first phase try finished off by Jamie Gibbs. This went unconverted, leaving the score 5-15 at half time.

With the half time talk focussed on increasing the speed of play in order to move the Anchorians defence around whilst looking at increasing the accuracy of the play, the next 15 minutes saw Horsham look their most dangerous with forwards and backs combining to tear the Anchorians defence to shreds. In a 15 minute stint immediately after half time, Horsham scored 5 unanswered tries all of which were fine examples of accuracy and support play by the now rampant Green and Whites. In this period, Jamie Gibbs continued his fine first half form to score his hat trick and 17 year old Declan Nwachuku, scored the first of his brace. Additional tries were scored by flanker Scott Price, winger James Whiting and scrum half Ben Rush, all products of excellent support play and well executed offloads in contact. Tom Johnson, pulling the strings at 10 with his usual aplomb, converted 2 tries leaving the score 5 – 44 with 60 minutes played.

Having secured the bonus point a number of changes were made seeing Josh Mills replace Ben Rush at 9 and Jerry Downey replacing Will Bell who was once again performing at his usual high level. The changes and perhaps a degree of complacency at the breakdown saw the Anchorians score a converted try on 63 minutes leaving the score 12 - 44

On 70 minutes, hard running and offloads by Ryan Grover and Arun Thompson saw Declan Nwachukwu take the ball on the Anchorians 10m line. Using his raw pace, he powered through several half tackles to then outpace the defence to score Horsham’s final try of the afternoon which was successfully converted by Tom Johnson – 12 - 51

The final 10 minutes saw a bizarre series of events where hooker Iain Fisher was harshly sin binned for retaliation to some provocation by the experienced Anchorians. Despite being second best on the day, they never gave up and with Ian off the pitch and having already used the front row replacement, uncontested scrums ensued. The referee was persuaded to make Horsham drop a further player by the Anchorians’ skipper given the need for uncontested scrums. Having realised that Horsham had already used the front row replacement, the referee reversed this decision but only after Anchorians had scored their third try having outflanked the 13 Horsham players that were allowed on the park. The incident did not have a bearing on the final result although a subsequent converted try by Anchorians on 80 minutes secured a bonus point for Anchorians that might prove valuable at the end of the season. Final score 24 - 51

Having secured promotion last week, a confident side and a return to fine playing conditions combined to see Horsham return to the free scoring ways seen earlier in the season. The engine room of Joe Green and Ryan Grover were strong throughout and secured a plentiful supply of first phase and ruck ball. The pace and precision in the backs produced a cutting edge that was complimented by the opposition after the match with a particularly noteworthy performance from Jamie Gibbs. The back row of Johnny Whiting, Arun Thompson and Scott Price carried with purpose all day and linked the plays effectively throughout. Scott Price in particular stepped into the breach admirably following Paul’s injury and continued with his aggressive play capped by a fine support try. In keeping with one eye on the future, a typically robust performance from Dan Cass showed that the back row will continue to be a hotbed of competition for the seasons ahead whereas Declan Nwachukwu’s pace and talent makes him a danger whenever the ball is in his hands. With Giles Barber, Johnny Ordidge and Ian Fisher offering leadership around the park with the playmaking of Tom Johnson pulling the strings, it would be a particularly strong performance to be awarded man of the match today. As he approaches the last few games in Horsham colours before returning home to NZ, Ben Rush played with purpose and real speed at the breakdown with excellent accuracy and range to his passing such that the Horsham runners were able to get on the front foot throughout and generate quick ball that could be used to great effect. Capping a fine performance with a try, Ben Rush deservedly took the plaudits.
Team: Bell (Downey 60mins) Whiting J, Gibbs, Ordidge, Nwachukwu, Johnson, Rush (Mills 60 mins), Talbot (Cass 35 mins), Fisher, Barber, Grover, Green, Price, Thompson, Whiting J