Match report by Nick Marsh

After a quiet opening to the game a long kick from defence, appeared to be knocked on, but was not spotted by the officials. Crawley exploited space out wide and the pacey winger skirted round the Horsham defence to score under the posts, the try was converted to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead.

Some ferocious tackling in the midfield from Horsham then began to stem the tide of Crawley midfield runners, and slick handling almost led to Horsham puncturing the resolute Crawley defence.

Play broke and some very good handling again released the Crawley left wing who again finished in style, with a simple conversion 14-0 to the visitors.

A knock on by Crawley from the restart handed the hosts the initiative, and nearly scored but for losing the ball whilst reaching for the line.
But pressure told and a slick handling move let to Charlotte Roberts crossing for Horsham’s first points of the afternoon. 14-5 to the visitors.

The visitors now started to utilise the high ball to unsettle the home defence but instead were kicking away possession, from one such kick Horsham broke and nearly scored. An entertaining contest was in full swing.

On a couple of occasions Horsham were guilty of not playing to the whistle and on another day would have been punished, but a superb try under the posts on the stroke of half-time by Devon Hallett showed the full array of attacking talent that Horsham possess.

With a conversion in front of the post the halftime score was: Horsham 12 - 14 Crawley.

With a healthy crowd enjoying the sunshine and the Rugby, Sundays don’t get much better than this.

A succession of penalties pushed the hosts back, but strong defence again held firm. A pattern of play was set with Crawley camped inside the Horsham 22, but strong defence was eventually breached, and Crawley extended their lead to 21-12 with an excellent conversion.

A fabulous try by Ellie Mayes came almost immediately. Great handling and a brilliant in and out run, allowed the Horsham No.9 race into score 21-17, game on!

With both sides fully committed, the contest was compelling viewing. However the game swung again the Crawley forward ball carrier’s punching holes in the Horsham line, another try and conversion followed 28-17.

Last quarter of the game all to play for. Back came Horsham again, with the game being played exclusively in the Crawley half, another nice handling move created an overlap and Horsham Ladies debutante Yasmin Wilson crossed the line again 28-22, with 7 minutes to play.

In the final seconds of the game, Crawley sealed the win from a scrum close in, ball was moved quickly, and the centre crossed for Crawley’s 5th try of a pulsating game.

Final score Horsham 22-35 Crawley.