Reds Too Sharp as Hove U15s See Off Horsham

The second match of the day for Hove U15s saw our Reds take on Horsham As in a league fixture. Following our recent focus on being ready from the whistle Hove were again fast out of the blocks scoring from the first opportunity - Oli A feeding Harry H at inside centre for an early line break, and into Ben, his centre partner, who carved his way through the crowd for an impressive early score (7-0). However Horsham showed that this early dominance was not to be taken for granted and fought back admirably. Using their powerful runners they pegged Hove back as the territory was evenly fought over. Both sides armed wrestled for the dominance of the match as 2 impressive defensive lines ensured the game was evenly balanced. And soon enough the scores were even as Horsham eventually powered over the line for a deserved equalising try (7-5).

However Hove appreciated a need to find another gear and as the forwards worked hard to turn win dominate the breakdown so we repeatedly found the opportunity to move the ball wide - and when we did we made progress. First an attack left eventually found Alex on the wing to go over to put Hove ahead (10-5). And then a mov from a line out on the left saw Hove find the 'edge' on the right where our speed of handling down the line saw Alex draw the final defender and with an immediate offload put in Ben for his second of the match, matched by an equally impressive conversion from the touchline by Sam who had clearly brought this kicking boots (19-5).

A half time team talk pushed the team to find another gear, and so we did as the 2nd half saw Hove dominant the territory and ball. An early second try came from repeated drives from Josh C and Harry before Josh G crossed the line again (24-5). But our territorial dominance wasn't as reflected in points as Horsham battled valiantly unto the end, until finally another move where Hove was camped in the opposition 22 eventually saw Matthew weave across the line for our final points (31-5). A deserved victory against an impressive Horsham side where the game is always played in the right spirits. MOTM - again hard to pick an individual from a team performance but Ben takes the plaudits this week both for his scores, but also the way he has adapted his natural attacking game to the outside centre position and the defensive aspects of tackling and drift defence.