Horsham record third successive league win despite injury setback

Finn Hillicks opened the scoring for the Green and Whites on seven minutes. The hosts secured good field position but were held up.

Horsham drove from the five metre scrum and Hillicks carried well to score. Joe Wilde slotted home a tricky conversion against the wind to make it 7-0.

The Green and Whites made it 12-0 on 20 minutes. Several phases of possession saw Jonny Goward pick up through the ruck to score. The try was unconverted.

Nine minutes later and Cobham were on the scoreboard. Horsham conceded field position and from the driving maul the visitors went over the line to score, although it was unconverted.

The Green and Whites held a 12-5 lead at half-time and they extended their lead five minutes into the second period.

A good amount of phases saw the ball shifted to Christian Squires and he finished well. The try was unconverted again but the hosts were now 17-5 up.

Cobham hit back seven minutes later. A pick and go try was conceded out wide and the visiting kicker did well to convert to make it 17-12.

Try as Cobham might, Horsham kept on pressing. And they were rewarded on 58 minutes as Mike Watts put last week’s hat-trick hero Declan Nwachukwu away to finish. This time Wilde made his conversion, putting the hosts ahead 24-12.

Jonny Whiting suffered a serious injury on the hour mark, and the Green and Whites conceded a converted try out wide following the extensive injury break.

But two tries in five minutes sealed the win for Nick Stocker’s side. On 73 minutes, good work out wide from Squire found Hillicks who finished well under the posts. Wilde sent over the conversion to make it 31-19.

And with two minutes to go Watts stole the ball from a Cobham player before popping it to Ciaran Preston for a debut try. Wilde missed the conversion.

The visitors did manage to reduce the deficit before full-time but Horsham secured yet another good win.

Stocker said: “A pleasing win, again with a bonus point, against a team with solid London 1 pedigree, scoring six tries in the process.

“There is still much more to come and it's pleasing to see how the boys are adapting to life in London 1.

“We sadly suffered a serious injury to Johny Whiting which after an extended break could have caused disruption.

“A big thank you to Cobham’s coaching team who were exemplary in their support of our physio dealing with Johnny’s injury.

“Their physio and all his pain relief gas and air, along with other pitch side equipment has clearly shown the degree of professionalism that Cobham work to and certainly helped make Jonny comfortable in his wait for the ambulance.

“Next week, we have a serious test away against Medway. A chance to renew an old acquaintance and test ourselves against one of the leagues contenders in their own back yard.”