Men’s 1st XV v Horsham 20/10/2007

Away – London 4 South East

Report by Andy Ward

Won 60-10

A game of two halves! Whilst managing to go in at the break 19-5 to the good, Hove suffered a severe case of handling errors and the line out was awful throughout the game.

Still, Adam Phillips managed to break free after 5 minutes to score a try which was duly converted by Alex Robertson. Ten minutes later, Clay Saunders went over for Hove’s second try – again converted and Hove were 14-0 to the good.

Despite being 14-0 down, Horsham’s pack were up for it and a few cases of handbags were evident from both sides, causing referee Dan Parrot to have words with the captains on two occasions. The addition of prop Brian Spring saw Hove’s front row strengthened and this made a crucial difference in the scrums.

Horsham were threatening on more than one occasion but resolute defence by Hove stopped their ambitions. A ball out through the back line found wing Alex Probyn who slipped his man and went over for Hove’s third try. Right at the death of the first half, Horsham received a penalty for handling by Hove and a five metre scrum was awarded. Horsham managed to convert this into a try and soon after this the half time whistle was blown.

The second half was beset by several injuries and all Horsham subs were used when a further two injuries saw them depleted to 14 men in the 70th minute and again to 13, 5 minutes later.We had to wait until the 58th minute before there was any further addition to the score – although the referee awarded 10 minutes rest to a player from each side around the 50 minute mark – and then Hove started to break free.

Matt Sole went over in the 58th minute and Nick Allen 6 minutes later. Neither try was converted and Hove were 29-5 up. Adam Phillips then went over in the 64th minute and Lee Preston 2 minutes later. Both tries were converted by Alex and Hove were now too far ahead at 41-5.

Skipper James Finlason scored next in the 69th minute which was again converted by Alex.A lapse in concentration from the kick off by Hove saw Horsham go over for their second try despite being down a man to take the score to 48-10. Hove found time for two further tries, one by Adam Phillips in the 74th minute – not converted – and then a second for Clay Saunders in the 79th minute which Alex converted. Final score – a fairly impressive 60 points to 10.