Horsham secure win at Pulborough

A below par Horsham came away from Pulborough with a win but also a lot of frustration having failed to get out of second gear all afternoon and ultimately missing out on a bonus point. Pulborough, despite their precarious position in the league always raise their game for this derby fixture, and this was no exception. Pulborough played the game with spirit and ambition and in their combative back row proved a thorn to Horsham's attacking game all afternoon.

The first half saw Horsham dominate field position and on 4 occasions, a lack of concentration at the lineout saw Pulborough clear their lines well when Horsham were in good positions to score. This slowly gave Pulborough confidence and in the first real foray into Horsham territory, Pulborough secured a good lineout and in the ensuing drive saw Horsham penalised and a yellow card issued. Pulborough elected to scrum and whilst Horsham held the push, the lack of a 3rd back row player saw the home 9 scamper through for a converted try, 7-0, which was the score at half time.

On 43 minutes, with Horsham picking up the pace of play and playing with a little more accuracy, play was taken deep into Pulborough's 22m. Following a scrum, Horsham backs attacked to the left and scored a fine try finished out wide by young colt Max Paterson. Joe Wilde struck a fine conversion from out wide to level t he scores 7-7

Pulborough went ahead on 54 minutes via a well taken penalty to lead 10-7 but Horsham continued to press and following a quickly taken penalty stretched the home defence seeing Max Paterson run in his second on 60 minutes. Again Joe Wilde converted to take a slim lead for the first time in the game 10-14. This was extended o 64 minutes when Joe Wilde converted a penalty following yet more pressure in the Pulborough half - 10-17

The lead was stretched further on 72 minutes when a clearance kick by Pulborough was returned with interest by a combination of Jordan Bell and Mike Watts. With the ball recycled to the left, Max Paterson was on hand to finish well for his Hat Trick and further score that was converted by Joe Wilde 10-24. This was followed by Pulborough scoring with 4 minutes to play following a strong line by Pulborough's skipper who had an influential afternoon with the boot and capped off with a well taken try, 17-24 which remained the score until the final whistle despite Horsham's attempts to secure a bonus point.

Horsham did not execute their game plan to the degree that has been seen in recent weeks with too many dropped passes and turnovers conceded. Additionally, the lineout malfunctions hurt the team when in good try scoring positions. That said, the scrum proved a solid source of possession all afternoon and despite the challenges, in the few bright passages of play, Horsham demonstrated that they had too much firepower for Pulborough on the day. In particular, Johnny Whiting carried well as did both of the other Johnny's - Ordidge and Goward. Jordan Bell had a strong game and gained even more confidence when Tom Johnson returned for his first 25 minutes since October following injury. The back three all played influentially and particularly Max Paterson who with claiming a hat trick also secured a man of the match performance.

With a week off next week, Horsham's next game is against Heathfield and Waldron who will prove to be stern opponents at Coolhurst.