Powerful and youthful Eastbourne too strong for Burgess Hill

With the play-offs just around the corner Burgess Hill had to win to stand any chance of catching Eastbourne in third and they recalled their seven powerful and talented Fijian players from the Army.

This youthful Eastbourne side is really starting to build a reputation for exceptional defence and line speed which was evident and exciting for the large crowd.

The smaller side but the fitter and more conditioned, Eastbourne repelled waves of hard running lines from Hill, who also posed a threat in the scrum with an extremely weighty pack. This was a tough test for 19-year-old Callum Dell who passed with flying colours to earn the MoM award.

Jake Howe kicked two early penalties for a lead of 6-5 after Burgess Hill had earlier crossed for a try in the corner.

Eastbourne’s first try was scored by Spike Gleave who now has 11 for the season, and Hill could not cope with the relentless pressure Eastbourne put them under. Howe kicked extras.

Eastbourne had to endure high tackle after high tackle, not always spotted by the officials.

After Hill kicked a long range penalty, Gleave crossed for his second try.

Eastbourne started the second half strongly and capped off seven minutes of dominance with a good and well deserved try by Karl Slaughter, playing out of position on the open side.

Burgess Hill scored next with Eastbourne immediately replying through Dylan Becker with one of his trademark bumps. Howe again kicked the extras which saw Eastbourne lead 32-16.

Burgess Hill had to throw everything at Eastbourne which lead to an intense but exciting 15 minutes before they eventually crossed the line to score, but the game ended in Eastbourne’s favour 32-23.

When final whistle blew, half the Burgess Hill team dropped to their knees and on to their backs exhausted, which showed how much effort they had put in.

The coaching staff now have some real selection headaches, with plenty of players playing well and others returning from injury.