Horsham fail to secure points on the road at Tunbridge Wells

Horsham continue to seek the elusive first win at level 5, and whilst the previous challenges secured 4 bonus points, the away trip to Tunbridge Wells resulted in a chastening defeat with nothing to show.
Electing to play up the slope and against the wind, Horsham were keen to prevent a repeat of the previous games by gifting the opposition big leads. The plan largely worked and although Wells secured a two try lead after 11 minutes, the indications were that Horsham were more than capable of a result. Errors by both sides dominated the game in what was a very scrappy affair and ultimately this was Horsham's undoing as any entry into Wells' territory saw the ball turned over and kicked back into Horsham territory. Despite this, Horsham scored via Marcus Condon following defensive pressure and having conceded a 3rd try on 27 minutes, the whistle for halftime blew with the score a modest 19-7 and Horsham still very much in the game.

The second half however proved to be more frustrating than the first. With Wells' eradicating their error count and Horsham's travails continuing, particularly at lineout which appeared disjointed when mauling, Wells began to score at regular intervals on 45, 55, 70 and 75 minutes with some long range efforts demonstrating the threat posed. Despite Jack Osgood scoring a good try on the back of a series of strong forward carries on 60 minutes, Horsham had been well beaten and will need to bounce back from this defeat quickly as we head into round 4 next week.

Nick Stocker cut a frustrated figure following the match - " our unforced error count was huge meaning we could not retain any possession. Coupled with below par energy levels and you begin to see the recipe for a tough afternoon. On the bright side, we managed to prevent the opposition opening up an unassailable lead in the first 20 minutes and in the dying throes, when playing for pride, we looked dangerous. In addition, within the raft of changes to the team, we saw some good signs of players that are able to step up to this level, including 3 positive debuts, two of which are only 18 and 20 years old. The boys were frustrated with how the day went. We will work hard in the week to rectify this and as we see our availability improve, we need to make sure that the improvement we seek is brought to bear for a full 80 minutes. Anything less at this level and we will be punished. Luckily enough we have the opportunity to set things right when we host CS Stags at home next weekend"