Final kick sinks Horsham

Horsham travelled to the coast for a first ever fixture against Bournemouth and in doing so were hopeful of their first victory on t he road against a side that had also experienced their share of difficulties. With the second team fixture moved to allow for a squad night out post match, the visitors travelled with a vocal set of supporters that added to the entertainment of the match throughout.

Horsham have struggled to start well and this match was no different gifting Bournemouth two soft tries in the first 15 minutes, both of which were converted leaving the score 14-0 before Horsham began to get the bus journey from their legs. As control of the game was gradually wrestled including two tries going begging as the ball was dropped over the try line in the midst of desperate last ditch tackles, on the half hour, increasing pressure from Horsham saw Tyrese Makasi emerge from the pile of bodies with the try from a well executed driven maul. With the conversion true, the scoreboard was now at 14-7. Horsham indiscipline allowed easy territory and with two players in the bin, Bournemouth took full advantage to take the lead to 19-7 into halftime.

The second half saw Horsham gradually dominate proceedings with the set piece in particular beginning to function well. Declan Nwachukwu scored when the ball was moved from a driven maul when under advantage on 49 minutes, and on 53 minutes, suffocating defence saw Max Greatwood intercept and score his first try for the club. With the second of these tries converted, Horsham had levelled the scoreboard at 19-19 with over a quarter to play. Horsham then took the lead on 63 minutes when Oli Chennell slotted a penalty and on 68 minutes, a clever kick over the defence from scrum half Aaron Linfield saw Declan Nwachukwu gather to score his second of the afternoon and taking the score to 19-27.

Sloppy defence from a lineout on the 22m saw 4 missed tackles and an easy try for Bournemouth on 71 minutes leaving the score 24-27 immediately followed by a penalty on 74 minutes which was dispatched by Oli Chennell leaving the score 24-30 with 5 minutes to play. Unfortunately, efforts to close the game down resulted in a penalty against which saw the ball kicked deep into Horsham's 22m. After several phases and playing under advantage, Bournemouth score out wide. With time up on the clock, the testing kick was well converted and Bournemouth celebrated a fine win which moments earlier had seemed unlikely

Head of Rugby Nick Stocker was reflective - we failed to close the game out having fought back and into a great position to win the match. I felt we did enough to win the match and the missed opportunities hurt us meaning we have to raise the clinical edge to succeed at this level. There were some great signs however and despite the loss, at least 2 bonus points wree