Horsham overcame a talented and spirited St Austell side who throughout their Papa Johns' odyssey had travelled over 1000 miles and in doing so making many friends along the way. In a game that displayed the best of community rugby in terms of passionate support, committed play and nerves as befitting any major semi-final, Horsham ultimately came out on top by virtue of a single score. In truth, Horsham will have reflected that that their performance lacked the fluidity of recent weeks and through too many unforced errors gave away possession and field position to a dangerous side. However, as seen all season, Horsham's defence was miserly throughout, and again it stood firm - especially in the tense final minutes which saw them close out the game and with it spark scenes of joy across the club.

The game kicked off with the ball going dead straight off and in a theme that repeated throughout, possession was granted to St Austell on the halfway line. This allowed Saints to get in to the game immediately by moving the ball left and right across the pitch. Horsham's defence coped with these initial probes and when after 8 minutes they secured some possession, the combination of forwards and backs moved the ball from the halfway deep into the Saints 22m and with excellent ball retention through 23 phases, the final grubber kick from Joe Blake saw Declan Nwachukwu dot down and score his first of the afternoon out wide with Oli Chennel converting excellently from the side-line. 7-0

The game then settled into a pattern of even play with defences generally on top. Horsham were coughing up possession cheaply and St Austell continuing to look more settled in the occasion. Following a series penalties with the ball moved into the Horsham 22m, St Austell kicked the ball to the corner and despite being repelled initially, maintained composure and mauled the ball over the line for a converted try. 20 minutes played and 7-7. The tense first half continued and with play generally between the 22m's, it became clear that this arm wrestle would go down to the wire. On 38 minutes, Horsham then put together several phases of play and with Saints infringing at the breakdown, Oli Chennel stepped up and converted a penalty from 30 meters out taking the score to 10-7 and with it the half.

The second half started with Horsham in the ascendancy. Moving the ball into the Saints half, quick ball drew the defence off side and with it the opportunity to strike. The ball was moved quickly to the backs and with Nwachukwu given 5 metres of space he rounded the last man and stepped inside the fullback to finish under the posts for a try converted by Oli Chennel taking the score to 17-7 after 46 minutes. Any sense that this would have settled the continued nerves were dismissed as Saints surged back into the Horsham half and under pressure at the breakdown conceded a penalty which was well converted - 17-10 after 50 minutes. As Horsham continued to toil, the Saints appeared to find their rhythm and when a wayward exit kick found the Saints 15 in space, his mazy run from the halfway saw an excellent finish to the right of the posts with the conversion tying up the scores at 17-17 after 55 minutes.

Horsham now tried to raise their game and when they did move the ball wide looked the more dangerous of the two sides. On 60 minutes with Horsham on the attack and looking threatening, the Saints outside centre recovered the chip through and somehow managed to evade tacklers on his try line and move the ball to the 22m. With the ball moved to his winger in support a kick through was needlessly checked by Tom Johnson with cover in behind and in doing so earnt himself 10 minutes in the bin. This was followed shortly after by Josh Earle for a high tackle and in doing so saw Horsham enter the crucial 4th quarter with 13 players on the pitch. This entered the defining period where the match was won. Horsham's defence under significant pressure held firm and despite conceding one penalty to give Saints the lead on 70 minutes, that fact that Horsham weathered this storm fed the belief that they could go on and close the game out. Restored to full complement, a scrum on the Saint's 10m line was moved swiftly along the backs to Declan Nwachukwu who rounded the defence and powered through the last tackle to finish expertly in the corner sparking wild celebrations. With the conversion missed, Horsham had taken a 2 point lead with 8 minutes to play.

St Austell again pushed hard for the win. Moving the ball into the Horsham half, an ambitious penalty was attempted from the halfway close to the touchline which fell short on 74 minutes. With the Horsham lineout malfunctioning, St Austell continued to press and for the final 3 minutes pounded away in the Horsham 22m until Horsham secured possession following a penalty for not releasing. With play moved up to the halfway, the ball was eventually kicked from the field to bring the game to a hugely relieved close.

Head of Rugby Nick Stocker was understandably delighted saying " we are hugely pleased to have got over the line in this very tense match. The contrasting scenes at the end show just how much this meant to both sets of players and clubs and in doing so, shows the magic of any cup run, particularly at community level with the opportunity of a lifetime at stake and the chance to play on the hallowed turf of Twickenham. St Austell were excellent throughout today and hugely gracious in defeat where players and supporters were a huge credit to their club. We have made new friends today forged in the crucible of a tough rugby match played in the best of spirits. In our colder coaching opinion, we never settled today and too many unforced errors gave away possession and field position against a well drilled team with some X factor players and an excellent lineout operation. Despite this, our defence was excellent and limited a dangerous side throughout. The final quarter, down to 13 men showed the character of the team and when you have that, you are never out of the fight. In a match that was finely balanced throughout, we managed to convert 3 of our 4 opportunities, all of which fell to Declan Nwachukwu and that proved enough of a difference. He was quite rightly awarded player of the match by our opponents as he was simply unplayable today. We would like to publicly thank St Austell for their huge part in what was a tremendous club occasion. A true community club with a great spirit epitomised by the players that take the field. We wish you the best for your journey at level 5 and hope that we will cross paths again someday soon."

Next up - Horsham play Old Northamptonians on Sunday 7th May at Twickenham - kick off 1700 hrs.