Hove vs. Horsham (A)

Hove vs. Horsham (A)

For the final game of 2016, Hove travelled to Sussex rivals Horsham, a team sitting one place above them in the league. Horsham have come out on top on the previous four meetings between the sides, so the form book was not in Hove’s favour.

Horsham kicked off, but after Hove had gathered cleanly, the resultant clearance kick went out on the full giving Horsham good field position in which to attack. Resolute Hove defence however held them at bay. Hove started to get the patterns together and after a penalty was kicked to the corner Rob Ward was at the back of rolling maul to break off down the blindside and find the supporting Rob Biggs. His touchline conversion however was missed as Hove took first blood 5-0.

The next twenty or so minutes was a very attritional affair with both packs testing each other on the gain line, but neither side offering any give. A Rob Biggs penalty drifted wide before Horsham had a ten minute spell in which they scored three converted tries.

The first came after the quick toed full-back found a prop in front of him and ghosted through the hole and into the corner which was expertly converted from the touchline; 5-7. The second soon followed after penalty conceded at the breakdown for not rolling away by Hove was kicked to the corner. The resultant rolling maul had enough momentum to cross the whitewash which again was nicely converted to take the score to 5-14.

With the home side’s tails up a speculative cross field kick was not gathered by Guy Patton (probably the first mistake he’s made all season) and the onrushing winger gratefully accepted the gift. As Phil Dugard chased him down, his attempted tackle was adjudged high and a penalty try was awarded. Dugard was also shown a yellow card to add to Hove’s troubles; 5-21.

Soon after the half time whistle sounded with Hove really up against it and facing an unenviable task to get back into the game. Words of wisdom from new coach Jordan Turner-Hall gave the Hove boys a much needed lift going into the second half.

Straight from the kick off captain Sam Whiting led from the front catching the hanging restart. A new sense of urgency appeared in the Hove pack who were carrying and defending with a new found vigour, led by the impressive Ian Saunders.

The pressure finally told as a neat grubber from Ryan Morlen found space and he had just enough toe to ground the ball before it went over the dead ball line. Rob Biggs pushing the conversion wide, but Hove had hit back; 10-21.

With Horsham roared on by their home support it was they who next troubled the scorers. Again another high tackle brought a penalty which after multiple phases, the ball was moved to the inside centre who crashed over just to the left of the uprights. The conversion was again true; 10-28.

As Hove have shown in recent weeks, they are not a side to lie down and after the ball was moved from wing to wing. Sam Whiting ran a neat line off Rob Biggs to go in under the sticks with Rob Biggs knocking over the extras to close the gap to 11 points; 17-28.

Two Horsham penalties drifted wide before Hove scored the try of the afternoon. A long kick was fielded inside the Hove 22 by Bryn Garrish who moved the ball to Guy Patton. His neat footwork found space wide on the right and he had Sam Whiting on his shoulder to dot down in the corner. The conversion was again missed but the momentum started to drift into Hove’s favour; 22-28.

With Horsham’s injuries piling up, Hove smelt blood. Strong carries from Morgan Griffin and Kip Wallace got Hove back into Horsham territory and they worked the overlap for Guy Patton (on his last Hove appearance before he heads off to New Zealand) to go in at the corner. The touchline conversion again sailed wide to leave Hove trailing by a solitary point; 27-28.

Hove so far this season have come out on the right side of every close game they’ve played and have been accustomed to scoring late in games. After a Horsham player was yellow carded for continuous team offences, the penalty was tapped quickly. With the eighty minutes up, Pat Andrews made one of his jinking runs down the middle of the pitch. Further carries again from the forwards took Hove into the Horsham 22. The ball was then moved to Sam Whiting who found Guy Patton wide on the right. He was scrag tackled, but was able to get the offload away to the supporting Sam Whiting who produced a great finish under pressure from the covering defence to score in the corner and complete his hat-trick. The kick again drifted wide, but Hove had finally got the monkey off their back and beaten Horsham at the fifth time of asking.

Final Score, 32-28.

Credit to all 18 players who showed a never-say-die attitude and were rewarded for their perseverance with a bonus point win on the road.

Hove: Wallace, Andrews, Shergold , Saunders, Knott, Ward, Silcocks, Griffin, Biggs, Dugard, Patton, Macdonald, Morlen, Garrish, Whiting © Subs: van Gelderen, Mohan and Walker.