Lions win against local rivals

Horsham’s Lions faced local rivals Barns Green on Saturday, and with the disappointment of England’s exit from the World Cup now put into the large box of England sporting failures, it was time to show how rugby should be played.

With the Lions team packed with recent first team regulars there were high expectations, however they knew not to take Barns Green too lightly. The game started quickly and like in previous weeks the Lions allowed the opposition pack to take control and soon Barns Green had managed to get into the Lions 22, and through Horsham indiscipline they successfully took 3 points. 5min 0-3.

However soon after with the Lions playing up the hill, some good hands in the backs saw Dan Bourne clear for the line. However he somehow thought it was a good option to cut inside the fullback, who subsequently stood strong and made the tackle and the opportunity was missed. What a Hero. However moments later another fine attack saw Bourne take his chance after a simple 2 on 1, and the pass from Jamie Gibbs put him in the corner with the resulting conversion missed. 8min 5-3.

The game then started to simmer and some good penetration from Barns Green starved Horsham of any good ball. However Horsham were to take the opportunity from some rare ball with Jamie Gibbs making a nice break down the narrow side to score under the posts with Sam Bell getting the extras. 18min 12-3. Another try didn’t come until a few minutes before the end with some good work from the Lions forwards creating quick ball in the BG half, and good hands putting Mark Elliot into score. 36min 17-3. A few minutes later and there was further indiscipline from the Lions or bad decision from the ref (it was difficult to tell). The resulting penalty put BG back on the scoreboard and going into half time it stood at 17-6. The Lions maybe eating a bit of humble American Pie.

The second half started slowly (a theme that would continue). Horsham were struggling in the scrum with the front row now getting Dizzy, which was at this stage keeping BG in the game. The Lions managed to get some good ball from hard forwards' work, seeing Jamie Gibbs going under the posts and Sam Bell duly converting. 47min 24-6. A few minutes later a good turn over well in the Lions half saw Doug Wright break from the back of the ruck, and maybe Living on a Prayer he skipped round the lazy BG forward, drew the winger and gave an excellent pass to Dan Bourne, who raced away to score under the posts. Sam Bell conversion. 49min 31-6.

Five minutes later BG made their way into the Lions' 22 through a number of drives down the side of the pitch and BG’s prop-shaped winger dancing round Lions winger Sam Rice (ooh Spicey!). BG were then rewarded with a penalty in front of the posts, which their fly half kicked and brought the score to 31-9 after 55mins. The next few minutes the Lions made a number of changes with Ali McAloon on for Jamie Gibbs and Josh Kneeshaw on for Carl Harman, and the influential Nick White came into the front row for Nick Swann.

The last 20 minutes of the game saw the Lions produce some scintillating rugby, which resulted in 5 tries from Ali MacAloon, Sam Rice scoring twice (and not just down the local YMCA), a 60m dash from Mark Elliot after an error from BG back, and then Dan Bourne Sailing in for his hat-trick to take the score to 62-9. A good performance from the Lions maintaining their position at the top of the table with 4 wins from 4 and now enjoy a two week break from league competition.

After the game a small ensemble attempted Karaoke in the clubhouse and then frequented a few town pubs, however no incidents have been reported such as dwarf throwing, hassling women or ferry jumping