Leaving it late!

St Francis RFC 17 - 22 Horsham Barbarians

After the anti-climax of the no-show by Sussex Police last weekend, the Baabaas were back in league action at St Francis RFC. The squad travelled with some confidence following 2 wins against Littlehampton and Sea Serpents and were keen to keep the run going. Unusually there was a lack of depth in the front row, but the team looked strong, albeit with Sam Lunn stepping into the unfamiliar role of scrum half.

The initial exchanges set the pattern for the game with both sides showing attacking intent and dogged defence. Frannies started stronger in the scrum putting the Horsham pack under a bit of pressure but without being able to venture deep into the Baabaas half. The first score saw Horsham fail to cover the St Francis backs who capitalised on the space this afforded to go ahead. Horsham hit back straight away when good forwards pressure in the opposition 22 gave Woody the time to feed the ideal ball to Jason who hit the line and crashed through the defence to score.

The Horsham front row of Joe, Bambi and Red had worked out the kinks in the scrum and this saw the tide turn at the set-piece. Again this saw territorial pressure, however some slow reactions allowed St Francis to get a try from nothing following a quick tap in their own half. This saw the score at 12-7 where it stayed for the next 40 minutes or so. The Baabaas continued to graft in a closely fought contest at the breakdown with Lee and Kieran putting in big shifts.

Penalties were shared between the 2 sides, but Horsham were down to 14 when a mis-judged tackle went high and Shaun went to the bin. This could have been the time for St Francis to take control, but Horsham decided attack was the best form of defence and stayed on the front foot and this saw Sam Lunn appear to fumble a pick up and walk in under the posts to level while the 28 other players on the pitch all stopped for a whistle that never came.

Almost immediately after, Horsham were pressing again when a second mis-judged tackle saw George Carbone picked up and dropped on his head. Fortunately there was no injury, but the resulting yellow card meant numbers were level again, at least for a period. Frannies were not going to lie down though and a series of penalties allowed the fly-half to advance them to the 5-metre line. At the line-out, Luke was a bit too eager to defend the maul and from the ensuing penalty Horsham were behind again. The conversion was missed and with 10 minutes to go the score stood at 17-12 to the home side.

With both teams back to a full complement, again Horsham surged forward and were rewarded when George Jeremy went over the line. The successful conversion by Woody saw Horsham in front for the first time with a little under 5 minutes on the clock. What could have been a nervous finish was played out in the St Francis half and with time up the Baabaas won a penalty in front of the posts. Rather than risk all to get the bonus try, Woody slotted the penalty with the final kick and sealed the win.

Credit to St Francis who matched Horsham in every aspect, except perhaps field position. The Baabaas effort was demonstrated by the tireless back row of Harry, Rory and especially Dan Crook at 8 who was deservedly awarded man of the match by the opposition. We won’t mention DOTD (You know who you are!)

Horsham Scorers
Try – Jason Baker, Sam Lunn, George Jeremy
Conv – Chris Wood (2)
Pen – Chris Wood

Horsham Barbarians - Joe Freeman, Steve Etherington, Jim Richards (C), Ciaran Fitzgerald, Lee Maguire, Henry Radford, Rory Cormack, Dan Crook, Sam Lunn, Chris Wood, Terry Lee, Jason Baker, George Jeremy, Freddie Underwood, Dicky Sutton, Elliot Martin, George Carbone, Shaun Page, Luke Powell