H&B stun league leaders

After a pair of dire performances, Hastings & Bexhill produced a sparkling 27-8 win at home to Kent One leaders King’s College Hospital on Saturday.

KCH took a 5-0 lead before the sides exchanged penalties. Tom Waring caught the trickiest of loose clearances and timed his pass beautifully to Bruce Steadman, who wriggled through a non-existent gap for a 10-8 half time lead.

Early in the second half Paul Sandeman burst through an untidy lineout, touching down and converting, 17-8. Ben Campbell, on the end of an excellent passage of handling, threaded through the defence to take the score to 22-8.

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Fittingly, the bonus point try came from H&B’s ever-reliable lineout; another assured catch, a controlled maul, and Sandeman broke off the back for the final score.

Elsewhere, Rye RFC made it a remarkable five wins out of five in Sussex One with a 24-5 success at second-bottom Midhurst.

A Jamie Moore try and Matt Cooke conversion put Rye 7-0 ahead. Cooke then scored a try of his own and converted it for a 14-0 advantage at half time.

Cooke’s penalty made it 17-0 before he converted a Jay Rutledge score for 24-0. Midhurst got on the scoreboard with a late consolation try. Full reports will appear in Friday’s Observers.

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Standings (played-points) - Kent One: 1 King’s College Hospital 5-20, 2 Cranbrook 4-16, 3 Dartfordians 5-14, 4 Beccehamian 5-12, 5 HASTINGS & BEXHILL 4-11, 6 Old Gravesendians 5-11, 7 Sittingbourne 4-10, 8 Shooters Hill 4-9, 9 Southwark Lancers 5-5, 10 Whitstable 5-5, 11 HSBC 4-5.

Sussex One: 1 Eastbourne 5-23, 2 Burgess Hill 5-22, 3 RYE 5-21, 4 Seaford 5-19, 5 Chichester III 5-19, 6 Brighton II 5-11, 7 Holbrook 5-8, 8 Newick 5-6, 9 Lewes II 5-3, 10 Hove III 4-1, 11 Midhurst 4-(-1), 12 Haywards Heath III 3-(-4).