Men’s 1st XV v Whitstable 17/09/2005

Away – RFU Senior Vase

Report by Andy Ward

Won 6-3

Hove traveled to Whitstable for the first ever time and took to the pitch 30 minutes later than expected. Whether this contributed to the game can only be the subject of conjecture and speculation.

A pretty awful game, highlighted by slow and boring forward play (not all forward play is slow and boring you understand – but this was). Whitstable were the first to score with a penalty after 2 minutes, followed by a second attempt two minutes later which missed.

A fairly languid game continued highlighted momentarily in the 22nd minute when Adam Phillips equalised for Hove with another penalty. Half time saw the teams troop off equal at 3 points each, although Whitstable had an extra player as Hove had their full back dismissed for retaliation.

The epic (yeah, right!) second half started and the assembled throng waited with bated breath to see if this could be quite as boring as the first half. Yes, it could! After six minutes, Adam Phillips scored a further penalty for Hove to take them 6-3 into the lead. This proved sufficient to win the game.A win is a win, but most people like to watch rugby being played. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too much of that on offer.