So close to success

The Lions squad of Sam Gordon, Sam Thurston, James (the dark) Knight, Finlay Conway, Jude Harding, Morgan Purnell, Thomas Sanders, Liam Hughes, Nathan Coward and Harry Bostock started with resounding victories against Haywards Heath A, Crowborough Tigers and Brighton to top their pool and go into the gold competition. The semi-final against Reigate was the boys worst performance of the day but still led to a narrow victory. However, this eventually proved costly as a high-quality final against Chichester A ended up tied at 3-3 but with Horsham losing out due to having a narrower semi-final victory than Chichester. All in all it was a step up in performance by the Lions and the boys look highly competitive with festival victories looking very likely this season.

The Tigers squad of Ben Mason, James (the light) Knight, Mason Taylor, Aaron West, Finlay Rutherford, William Gibbons-Buroughs, James Andrews, Kye Hill, Ruben Weide and Jack Marks was inexperienced with half the boys playing their first festival after only a few weeks of playing rugby. However, the boys started well by drawing against Haywards Heath B, losing to Hastings & Bexhill and defeating Crawley in their pool. Conceding a last-minute try against Haywards Heath meant the Tigers finished third on points difference and went into the bronze competition. A ding-dong semi-final against Crowborough was decided by their star player scoring in the last minute. The 3/4 play-off saw another good performance by the Tigers but they couldn't quite do enough against a well-drilled Chichester B team and led to a 5-3 defeat. Despite losing more than they won, the Tigers played well and will also be competitive this season.