Colts on Top in Local Derby

The home side forced the early pace and following an infringement at the breakdown, stand in fly half Josh Steggles converted a penalty to give Horsham a 3 0 lead. A knock on shortly after the restart gave a Horsham a scrum on their own 22. It appeared the scrum had been won comfortably but an inadvertent kick from the 2nd row saw the ball end up at Pulborough’s no8’s feet. Horsham were caught off guard and the scrum made a sharp break and evaded a couple of tackles to touch down. The conversion was made from out wide and Horsham were now 7 3 down. Having not conceded appoint in their previous 3 league games this was a real shock to the system for the home team.

They were soon back on the attack though and forced a penalty 5 metres out. With Pulborough regrouping, captain and flanker Tom Clayton took a leaf out the Ben Young’s opportunist book from the previous day to take a quick tap penalty and touch down for an unconverted try. With confidence restored Horsham continued to attack but were met with fierce defence and outstanding turnover work at the breakdown by Pulborough’s impressive pack. The pressure was intense and when the visitors fly half cleared strongly from behind his own line there appeared to be some relief for Pulborough on the half way line. However, wing Declan Nwachukwu took a quick throw in to full back George Palmer who set off on mazy run which culminated in him outpacing all of the defence to touch down in the corner. Outstanding! Again the conversion was missed but Horsham were now 13 7 ahead, a lead they took into the break.

The start of the second half followed the pattern of the first with Horsham pressing against strong defence. However, when 2nd row Matt Brock made a powerful run the right, the ball was recycled quickly and spun out where fast hands saw flanker Dan Riley time his pass perfectly Nwachukwu and he outpaced the covering defence to score Horsham’s 3rd try. Kick missed but now 18-7.

Following am infringement at the break down in the Pulborough 22, scrum half Nick Bayne took a quick penalty and when Nwachukwu fed Palmer, the full back scampered in for his 2nd try. This time Steggles was successful from out wide and the score was now 25-7.

With the bonus point secured Horsham made a number of changes and Pulborough came flying at the home team in impressive fashion and it was only desperate defending by the Horsham pack in the corner that kept the visitors out. With the pressure seemingly averted, the Pulborough 10 put in a speculative kick towards the Horsham try line. Contrary to the rubbish advice of the Head Coach about it going dead, the ball decided to drop like a stone and bounce backwards into the arms of the Pulborough wing who touched down for their 2nd try which was well converted. The justifiable award of dick of the day took place in the clubhouse afterwards!!

This stung Horsham into action and with time running out they pressed for another try. However, with the score at 25 14, Pulborough also scented a bonus point and ran it out of their own 22. However, a pass went to ground on the half way line and replacement wing Canice Gonzague showed great footballing skills to kick through and then gather to touch down for Horsham’s 5th try. The conversion was missed and the whistle went with the final score being 30-14.

It was a great game, played in a great spirit with both sides not giving an inch. In fact the referee was heard saying afterwards that it was a game he would have paid to watch.

Horsham have an awful lot left to play for this season and they know they will need to up their game to achieve their goals.