Men’s 1st XV v Purley John Fisher 18/04/2009

Home – London 3 South East

Report by Andy Ward

Won 51-25

After a season that, at times has flown by, Hove were to face their last league fixture of a season that has brought so much for the team. The arrival in a new league, the arrival of several new faces, the introduction of promising young players, the gelling of all the players into a decent team and a fantastic set of results of which everybody can be justifiably proud. That we failed to reach the play off by the tiniest of margins is disappointing but not terminal. We will surely challenge again next season and perhaps be better prepared for the challenges ahead. Next week sees the Sussex Trophy final, but let’s deal with the league situation first.

The game started brightly with a couple of good moves by Hove with Adam Phillips going oh so close in the second minute and Dipo touching down a minute later only to be adjudged foot in touch. An early rest for Brian a minute after that left the way for PJF to take advantage of the extra man and they went over for a converted try in the 9th minute. Not to be outdone, Hove riposted in the 12th and Seb scored with Sam converting to make the game level at 7 apiece.

A missed penalty by Sam in the 16th saw Liam the member of the wide awake club but he couldn’t retrieve the ball and touch down as the ref called play back. Within a minute, Hove in the shape of Scott had established a lead and the conversion made it 14-7. A penalty by PJF five minutes later saw them get closer, but the see saw wobbled again and Seb went over for his second try a further minute later. Twenty Five minutes into the game and it was already 19-10 – was Kevin Keegan now on the coaching team?

The half continued at a frantic pace and further scores were to come from Sam and Adam to take the half time score to 29-10 to Hove.

A bit of sleep walking in the second half saw PJF score three unconverted tries to threaten the Hove superiority, but normal service was resumed and that was the last score PJF were to get. Hove finished with a flourish and tries from Dave, Liam, Dave (again – albeit with great work from debutante Ben Ward), a penalty and 2 conversions from Sam and the obligatory drop goal attempt from Adam and the game finished at 51-25 to Hove.

All in all a good game to watch and a pleasant afternoon. That left us fourth in the league, but the RFU appeal was last night (Monday 20/04/09) and this ruled in our favour. The net result is that we are third one point behind Aylesford and thus miss out on the play off against SW3 runners up (Wimbledon) next Saturday. So, best of luck to Aylesford, commiserations to Old Reigatian and lets all look forward to the County final at Pulborough next week. A coach is running at the ridiculously cheap price of £5.00. First come, first served.

Enjoy the Summer – Andy Ward Club Secretary