Tremendous fightback by Hove sees them beat Horsham in breathless classic

Hove beat Horsham 43-38 in a fantastic advert for rugby and maintain their inexorable march towards the second-place play-off spot for promotion into London 1 South with results elsewhere going in their favour. This was quite a turnaround from being 7-28 down at the half hour mark and Horsham will be wondering how they let this game slip. The match was played at a breath-taking pace with eleven tries scored in all. Games between these two Sussex rivals have traditionally been a close contest and today was no different. They have rarely however been so open and entertaining.

Horsham opened the scoring after a sustained period of pressure eventually saw a Nick Bell line break off great shape in attack to score under the posts. The try was converted by Joe Wilde. Hove bounced back with an interception try off a Tom Johnson pass whilst trying to take advantage of the overlap created. Horsham retook the lead with a good counter attack from a turnover which saw Wilde pass inside to the supporting Tom Blewitt to score with the try converted by Wilde. Shortly afterwards Johnson released Declan Nwachukwu on the blind-side with Mike Watts in support who finished under the posts with Wilde adding the extras. When on 33 minutes Wilde made a chip over the on-rushing defence, won the race to touch down and then convert his own try the result appeared to be decided with Hove 7-28 down, but the hosts had other ideas.

Playing with tremendous resilience, a more combative set of forwards than in recent years and allied with a fine set of backs, Hove did not accept they were beaten. After a period of pressure close to the Horsham line the visitors conceded a penalty try from a scrum, which some spectators felt was harsh as it was given 7-8 metres from the try-line and the drive was not going anywhere, but the referee’s interpretation was that the front row was deliberately wheeling. In the confusion Mike Watts was yellow carded. A minute later Hove scored another try from an off-load out of the tackle and with both tries converted within the space of two minutes had narrowed the deficit to 21-28 as they went into the half time break.

Horsham started the second half strongly when Johnson powered over the line after a good line out drive with the try converted by Wilde then Hove bounced back with a try off a turnover. When on 67 minutes Wilde added a penalty, Horsham led 38-26 and the Green and Whites still had a comfortable lead but Hove were finishing strongly. Horsham were starting to concede too many penalties giving field position to Hove who eventually scored from a driving maul. Hove took the lead for the first time on 75 minutes following suspicion of a forward pass and then cleverly ran down the clock by retaining possession through several phases of play and when Horsham conceded another penalty it was game over for the visitors. The penalty kick was successful taking the score to 43-38 and full-time.

Horsham head coach Nick Stocker reflected after the game:

“A disappointing result to a very entertaining game of rugby. Horsham were in total control for large swathes of the game as shown by the blistering first half and a good period of the second. However, at this level, it’s fine margins that count. An interception try against and switching off for two minutes at the end of the first half allowed Hove back into the game which should have been closed out in the second half. Together with the missed knock on it’s a result the boys are disappointed at. However, in truth, we showed some inexperience in not playing field position effectively enough in the second half to close the game out. Hove did not need a second invitation to try to turn us over.

In terms of performances, there were a number of strong performances across the team. Liam Brady had a good game against a very experienced National 2 prop and will learn from the experience. Johnny Whiting carried hard and set good targets all afternoon. Jordan Smith and Nick Bell showed great work rate that has been the hallmark of their performances all year whilst Dan Cass’ physicality was great to watch.

In the backs, despite the much-vaunted Hove three quarters, they collectively outplayed their opponents and on this performance, next year’s 4G pitch will see lots of tries! Joe Wilde and Tom Johnson were excellent all afternoon and Eliot Mills had his best game to date for Horsham. The back three of Declan Nwachukwu, Tom Blewitt and Mike Watts were a threat all afternoon and defended well when needed.

In terms of the man of the match, this week we decided to share the award between Johnny Ordidge and Dan Cass. Both came into the team this week and played very well. Johnny Ordidge carried hard and set targets that allowed us to get into our patterns which caused Hove considerable problems. Dan Cass was simply possessed and a few Hove lads will be feeling the after effects of his tackling today!”

Horsham return to action after the Easter break on April 7th at home to Dover.