Hove into final of Bob Rogers Cup

On Saturday, Hove welcomes long time rivals Horsham to the Recreation Ground for the Semi-Final of the Bob Rogers Cup, the crowning jewel in trophy cabinets around the South East.

Despite the impending Storm Ciara, both sides and spectators were treated to ideal rugby playing conditions - with the sun shining and very little in the way of wind.

The home side fielded a much changed outfit from their last match - a 23-17 loss away to Crowborough. The 1st XV welcomed some familiar faces from the Seconds, including; Luke Buckton-Taylor, James Buckley, ‘Big’ Ben Stephens, George ‘D’ Davies and 2nd XV Captain (and 2019 Tourist of the Year) Johnny OW. Special mention must also go to Elliot ‘arm’ Curl, who made his 1st XV debut in the Maroon and Sky Blue.

In the first half, Hove asserted their dominance very early on and the pressure soon rewarded them with a try. After a Horsham kick was gathered in the Hove half by Full-Back, Harry Nelson, quickly passed to Johnny OW who drew the Horsham defence and released looping Harry through a gap. After exchanging passes with Cyprus international winger, Rene Pavlides, Johnny again found himself with ball in hand with the try line gaping. Unselfishly, Johnny released Rene to score under the posts, the kick from Davies followed - Hove 7-0.

Hove extended their lead when a wasteful Horsham kick was fielded by aforementioned Hove international player, Pavlides who returned the kick with interest and pulled the gathering Horsham player over the line for a 5 metre scrum. Hove Captain, Macca picks up the ball after a great Hove scrum and scores. Davies unfortunately unsuccessful with his kick - 12-0.

Shortly after Horsham successfully chose to kick for goal from a penalty, Hove were back on the scoresheet. The home team’s third score again came after significant pressure in the scrum. This time fitness guru and general great bloke, Ben Anderson, gathers the ball from a loose scrum and rumbles over to take the score to 17-3, George Davies again wayward with the boot.

After a period of poor discipline and very little possession following numerous changes to the Hove team, Horsham managed to gain some momentum in the third quarter. Following a line out deep in Hove’s 22, their pack bundled over from the resulting maul and their kicker completed his duties taking the score to 17-10, game on.

Hove began to take control of the match in the final quarter. The home crowd were treated to extended spells of dominant possession from Hove, however, a score seemed to evade them. Hove finally scored again after a kick chase led to a penalty turnover deep in the opposition 22. Following a few decent phases from the resulting line out, Ian Willian carries the ball strongly over the line and under the posts giving George Davies no issue in adding the extras.

Although Horsham managed to register a converted score in the final minutes of the game, Hove held out to register their first win since before the Christmas break. Given the mixture of 1s and 2s players that made up the match day squad, the coaches will be particularly happy with how some of the newer players handled themselves.