Hove vs. Beckenham (A)

After three straight league and cup defeats, Hove travelled to Beckenham; a ground where they’ve had not much luck in recent years. It was also the last game for our coach Alex Robertson who departs back to New Zealand, so this added extra bite to the fixture.

Hove played down the slight hill to begin with and a Rob Biggs restart was competed well in the air and forced a knock on. From the first scrum however, it was clear that Beckenham were going to have the upper hand. Credit to both Chris Knott and later Declan Peake however, who managed to time their hook superbly allowing the retreating Morgan Griffin to pick the ball from the base of the scrum and allow Hove to build their attacks.

An early Beckenham shot at goal drifted wide before another penalty was kicked to the corner and the lumpier Beckenham forwards began to go to work on the Hove eight. After a slight pause, Beckenham got their pack moving and mauled over for the first try which was duly converted; 0-7.

Hove however hit back straight away. The ball was moved to Ryan Morlen who put a deft grubber behind the winger. Martin Macdonald then managed to get a toe on the ball only for the Beckenham winger to win the footrace; however the counter ruck from Hove was good and forced the penalty. After a quick tap from Sam Whiting, he floated a long pass to Jack Silcocks who found his back row partner Rob Ward on his shoulder to go in at the corner. Carles Casanova Galindo knocking over the touchline conversion with ease; 7-7.

A couple of long range Galindo penalties also drifted just wide as Hove continued to get at the home side. Beckenham especially at home are not a side to rollover and soon started to come back at Hove and were rewarded with their dominance in the tight with another converted try; 7-14.

Hove as they do week in week out were making good ground in the wide channels. After strong carries from Morgan Griffin, the ball was spun out to Phil Dugard who made a dart at the line but was tackled just short. Upon hitting the deck he popped the ball to the supporting Ryan Morlen who went in for the try (his third of the season with the use of his ‘fivehead’). Galindo unfortunately pushed the conversion but later added a penalty to Hove’s total as the sides went in at half time; 15-14 in favour of the away side.

Hove were calm and collected at half time and an emphasis on discipline was raised to limit the strong catch and drive of the home side. The second half didn’t start as planned for Hove as a dart from the Beckenham scrum half saw Captain Sam Whiting adjudged to have deliberately knocked the ball on in the tackle and was given ten minutes. Beckenham duly converted the banker three points to take the lead; 15-17.

Chris Knott was finding the jumpers of Torres and Saunders with ease and this gave Hove good clean ball on which to use their dangerous backs. Guy Patton as he always does was making good ground on the wing and was only prevented from scoring by some good covering tackles. Two more Galindo penalties soon followed as Hove kept ticking over the scoreboard to lead 21-17.
As any side who trails going into the final stages of the game, Beckenham came back at Hove. Strong defensive tackles from Hove’s ‘wolfpack’ of Peake, Torres and Silcocks kept the home side working overtime for their hard yards.

Going into the final five minutes Beckenham were camped on the Hove try line. Sensing blood and with it the victory, their forwards kept the ball in the tight but Hove’s defence held strong and ended up holding the home side up.

48 seconds to go and Beckenham had a scrum five metres out. Having controlled this facet of the game all afternoon it seemed as though the writing was on the board. To Hove’s delight however the ball popped out the back of the scrum. Pressure from Rob Biggs forced the Beckenham scrum half to throw a wild pass to his winger which went straight into touch to the jubilation of Hove and the travelling supporters.

A great win on the road for this young side and the perfect send off for Alex. Results like this prove that we have the quality to compete and most of all beat any side in this league.

Man of the Match goes to Carles Casanova Galindo for knocking over the crucial points from the kicking tee.

Hove entertain Bromley at The Rec next week, a side that although hasn’t won yet this season, have gained a losing bonus point in four of their seven losses.

Hove: Wallace, Knott, Andrews, Saunders, Torres, Ward, Silcocks, Griffin, Biggs, Dugard, Patton, Galindo, Morlen, Macdonald, Whiting © Subs: Peake, Walker and Lemehaute.