On this rare occasion Hove had the chance to redeem themselves from the below average performance the week before and I can happily say they performed to a level that I’m sure the local supporters would be proud of.
The game started at a fast pace which suited Hove’s style of rugby, keeping the ball away from the heavy Old Colfs forwards. Hove broke through twice early on with an excellent line break from Martin MacDonald and some silky hands resulted in try one of the day. A few minutes later another excellent break saw Phil Dugard in some space, Dugard passed the ball to Morlen who had very little to do apart from a pass that was perfectly placed into Morgan’s hands for the try under the post. 14 – 0.
The game then tilted towards Old Colfs as they were awarded a number of scrums and lineouts, which suited their style of rugby although Hove pack held out excellently and should be proud as by the end of the match they matched the Old Colfs pack. Carles on debut slotted a long-range penalty. At half the score was 17-10 to Hove.
The second half began with Hove only having 13 on the field due to two yellow cards before the half, the game once again played at a quick pace. Hove played to their strengths, breaking the line on a number of occasions with some excellent hands. The boys also fronted up and put in a strong defensive performance in the second half. It then came as Ryan Morlen scored an excellent try in the left corner after beating a defender and then powering over, Carles adding the extras from the touchline.
Old Colfs finished the game strongly with a try and penalty, which left Hove with nothing from the hard fought game with the score ending
Overall a much better performance from the week before and I have no doubt that Hove can put an even better performance in this weekend.
I would like to thank Perfect Print for Sponsoring the Match day and also to Geoff Pollard for Sponsoring the Match balls. Lastly, I would like to say a massive thank you to all the supporter's who came down to watch us at the rec. It is not the result that we had wanted, but we are proud of the performance that we put in.