Horsham U15's V Chichester 06.11.11

After their narrow defeat to County Champions Brighton last time out, Horsham travelled to Chichester on Sunday determined to get their season back on track.

Last minute illnesses deprived Horsham of prop Jake Mallinder and captain and full back Matt Streeter on the morning of the game but they were able to welcome back Aaron Pyzer and Matt Blake from broken fingers to strengthen the back line.

From the off, Chichester looked to dominate with their big forwards and keep it tight up front. However, Horsham’s pack was more than equal to the task and was soon winning the majority of the ball. This allowed scrum half Josh Steggles and fly half Callum Tusler to unleash the handling skills and pace of the outside backs. The first try came when centre Liam Ruz put in a clever chip ahead into the Chichester 22 where wing Declan Nwachukwu gathered the ball , rounded the full back and touched down to put Horsham 5-0 ahead.

Straight from the restart Michael Watson charged into the Chichester 22. The home side recycled the ball and cleared their lines. However, full back Liam McGivern fielded the ball and set off on a mazy run. Callum Tusler was in support and, following a deft off load, outpaced the defence to touch down under the posts. He then converted his own try to make the score 12-0.

The home side then exploited some Horsham complacency from the kick off with a switched restart. The big Chichester pack then pounded the away team’s line but was repelled on numerous occasions by determined and robust defence. However, just when it looked like the pressure was over, the impressive Chichester prop picked up a loose ball and drove over to bring the score to 12-5.

This came as a bit of a shock to the system for Horsham who now realised they were in a game and they weren’t going to have it all their own way. They were soon camped in home side’s 22 with the forwards exerting enormous pressure. This lead to a penalty and with Chichester expecting Horsham to move it wide, no 8 and captain for the day, Sean Richardson, took a quick tap and powered over for his team 3rd try. 17-5.

However, for the second time in the match Horsham switched off and following some sloppy defending and believing they had been awarded a knock on, the away side stood back and allowed Chichester to go over in the corner. It was the correct decision and a lesson to be learnt. 17-10.

Horsham then responded brilliantly and following slick handling between forwards and backs Matt Blake released Nwachukwu out wide. He then showed blistering speed, evading 3 tackles before once again rounding the fullback and running in under the posts (eventually grounding the ball after much encouragement from the coaches on the side-line to do so - don’t do it to us Declan!!). Tusler converted leaving it 24 - 10 at half time.

It was clear that Horsham had to start the second half decisively to try and finally quell the Chichester resistance. This they did with some style and in the first 15 minutes of the second half Horsham were outstanding and played some of the best rugby we have seen from them for a while. With Sean Richardson, Tom Ayre, Tom Clayton and replacement prop Harry Blanthorn dominating in the forwards, the backs began to showcase their handling skills, support play and pace which saw the score move to 45 -10 following 3 expertly worked tries in the space of 15 mins. Firstly, Horsham were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Josh Steggles took it quickly before Callum Tusler timed his pass to perfection to put Michael Watson in for a try.

The 6th and 7th tries came from the outstanding Nwachukwu but with massive assists from his fellow backs who were playing running rugby of the highest order. The final score was the try of the match with forwards driving big holes down one side of the pitch before the backs transferred the ball out left in the blink of an eye where Nwachukwu, having changed wings, ran in his fourth try.

With the score now 45-10 Horsham were able to give their whole bench a run out with Matt Brock, Daniel Riley, David Fennelly, Ben Carbone, Oli Budd (first time as hooker and learning the calls!) and Charlie Blair-Rains all making significant contributions.

To Chichester’s great credit, they never gave up and kept running back at Horsham whenever they had the ball. Their endeavours were rewarded when, following some sloppy handling by Horsham trying run out of their own 22, the ball was spilled the home side crashed over for their 3rd try.
Horsham still weren’t done – Nwachukwu should have had a fifth but spilled Matt Blake’s pass (we’ll let him off this indiscretion??) and thought they had scored an 8th try when Tom Clayton crashed over. However, with the referee unsighted the try wasn’t given and the finals whistle went with the score 45-15 to Horsham.

Except for a couple of lapses in concentration, and the odd missed tackle, this was an excellent performance from Horsham against a very good Chichester side who should win a lot more games this season.

Match Report By John Riley