Looking for a Silver Lining

A very tough day at the office for Horsham 3s. A journey to bottom placed Bognor 3s on paper looked like a formality win for a nearly full strength Barbarians team. However circumstances outside their control meant Bognor 2s game was cancelled and a reinforced team faced Horsham at kick off.

Horsham started well but were soon behind, Bognor's gameplan was suited to the heavy conditions and their sturdy backs were soon making inroads into the Horsham defence. A number of scores quickly racked up before the away team started to find some belief and confidence. There then followed a couple of long periods where no score was conceded and on the few occasions where Horsham did secure good attacking ball the ¾'s showed they had potential and forced some good defensive tackles from the bolstered home team.

The second half followed the first and the flood gates could have opened but Horsham stuck resolutely to the cause. The game was regularly brightened with pieces of skill and defiant determination by the real 3rd team well after the scoreline had ceased to matter.

Other silver linings? Apart from the tackling practice there were glimpses of the steel that was shown through the great escape last season. Young Ellis Parsons and George Arbuthnot continued to grow in their senior rugby and Tom Litchfield tackled like his life depended on it. Gordon returned and the stalwarts battled to the end. All these things are great but the key thing for me is that despite the big loss, there's a good feeling being part of this team and it was good to stop and share few laughs in Amberley on the way back to Horsham. Barns Green away next week so another tough one but who knows, maybe we'll look back this time next week and point at this game as an important factor in a great win.

Finally a big thanks to Chris Wright, Lee Maguire and George's Dad who gave great support along with the superb pictures by Richard Harman.