Horsham 1XV v London Welsh

They say that the deserts of the World are inhospitable places where daytime temperatures can climb to over 100 degrees, which strangely enough probably best described Horsham's pitch yesterday. Horsham played host to London Welsh in what was the first home league fixture of the new season in Regional 1 South Central and on what was the hottest day of the year. An eagerly anticipated fixture for any club, London Welsh arrived as the established team in this League and on their own well documented journey back to the top of English rugby. With London Welsh smarting from a loss the weekend before Horsham knew it would be a tough afternoon being the newbies in the League, playing at their highest level to date.

It was Welsh that appeared to cope with the conditions and atmosphere the best at the start as on minutes '5,'9,'13 and '16 the tries started to go over in quick succession. Some sublime running lines from the men in red caught Horsham's defence a little out of sorts, if not for some wayward kicking off the tee, London Welsh might have built an impossible lead. However Horsham were not going to roll over that easily as in minute '25 they took their first score, a try by Captain Tom Johnson converted by the ever reliable Oli Chennell. A quick response by Welsh saw them cross the line for a fifth time in the half but it was evident the tide was starting to turn in Horsham's favour as London Welsh opted for a penalty kick to see out the first half and secure them a 7-34 lead going into the break.

Horsham lost one of their players just before the half time whistle as lock Taylor Morris got the call that his Partner had gone into labour. No news as yet but we wish them both well.

Without doubt this game would best be described using that good old cliche "a game of two halves" as the second half absolutely belonged to Horsham. It was Horsham that struck first with a solid gallop over the line from the warhorse that is Jack Osgood. Unfortunately the errors that plagued the men in green in the first 20 minutes of the game crept back as London Welsh struck back with their sixth try of the game. With bodies on both sides now wilting in the searing temperatures it was Horsham that ended up showing more desire. Two tries by fly half Joe Blake, another from Jack Osgood and one from Oli Chennell, with kicking duties shared between him and Tom Johnson suddenly London Welsh had the real concern that the game might not go their way again. Welsh peppered the uprights with penalties when they had the chance, trying to relieve some of the immense pressure being applied and get some daylight between them and the resurgent Horsham.

The game ended 36-42 to the visitors.

Head of Performance, Ross Chisholm, said after the game " It was an heroic effort by the lads to comeback at London Welsh like that but being heroic just isn't good enough at this level. We need to start harder and faster so we don't leave ourselves so much work to do. We've pushed probably two of the more established teams in this League to the very end, we just have to be more ruthless from the start"

Horsham now travel away next weekend (16/09/23) to Tunbridge Wells who themselves suffered a loss yesterday.