Hove 12 - 17 Midhurst

MIDHURST 17 v HOVE 12

Another case of close but not cigar, in the idyllic surroundings of Midhurst RFC, Hove 2nd XV (Beefeaters) arrived looking for a win and moved up the table.
Midhurst with only 3 wins this season (all at home) where looking for their 4 win and with a crowd behind them were up for the challenge.
The game started with a cross wind and physical challenge from both packs, right from the beginning Midhurst use their strength in their forwards and attacked the Hove tackle line. The wind and cold made it difficult to pass and both teams knocked on early on, however the Home side were able to capitalise from Hove’s mistakes and put pressure on Hove and parked themselves on the 22 metre line, eventually Midhurst broke through to score and converted try. 7 – 0
Hove came back and attacked Midhurst and got inside the home teams half, however dropped balls and miss opportunities gave the ball back and attacked Hove with gusto. Midhurst used the clock effectively and using their overlap and numerical advantage to score another try, Conversion was missed 12 – 0
In typical Hove fashion and with time running out the team woke up and attacked Midhurst with a sense of urgency and relentlessly move the ball forward and gave the ball to the Backs who were able to score on the Half time, with Alex Mann going over the line. Converted try 12 – 7
HALF TIME
The game restarted at the same pace as it ended with both teams hitting each other hard, however Midhurst tended to keep the upper hand and the ball kept going back and forwards.
Eventually Midhurst got the ball and punish Hove for mistakes by moving forward, A Yellow card saw Hove down to 14 players and good defending kept Midhurst out. Another Yellow card this time against Midhurst gave the ball back to Hove inside the 5 metre line. However errors gave the ball back to the Hosts who capitalise and scored! Conversion missed 17 – 7
Hove got themselves going and move the ball forwards and after a several phases able to pass the ball and Tom Lemehaute . Conversion missed 17 – 12
With 7 minutes left in the game and after what so far had been a spicy affair the game increase in tempo with both side hitting each other’s tackle line at a crucial moment another dropped ball from a scoring position gave the ball to Midhurst who started to move the ball forward and started to run the clock down.
Hove kept the opposition out, however a late penalty gave Midhurst the chance to clinch the game. Penalty kick was missed and Hove got the ball back, with time already run out couldn’t move the ball and Referee blew the whistle. Game over. Hove got a consolation losing bonus point.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Louis Alexander

Addendum: Midhurst gave Hove an old school challenge in the boat race: HOVE won with Chenna taking the top honour in the final challenge drinking the Pint the fastest time possible!

TEAM:
1. - Luke O'Loughlin
2.- Phil Ward
3.- Charlie Swannack
4.- Colm Devine
5.- James Duckett
6.- Owen Phillips
7.- Louis Alexander
8.- Chenna Oranu
9.- Rhys Garrish
10.- Graeme Da Silva
11.- Nick Frost
12.- Tom LeMehaute (1try, 1 con)
13.- Alex Mann(1 try)
14.- Dan Butler
15.- Stuart Hathaway
16. - Jake Marshall
17. - Aleso Pa’rragaiotti
18. - Lawrence Daraio