Young Horsham rugby sides both impress in big games

With the sun shining the ground was firm and Horsham employed their running game from the start.

They took the lead following a strong burst down the right by wing Jerome Downey, who managed to offload to full-back Declan Nwachukwu and he managed to evade to the cover defence to touch down in the corner.

Though the conversion was missed Cameron Allan managed to slot a penalty a few minutes later following a late tackle on fellow centre Tom Clayton for an 8-0 lead.

Unfortunately the home team were giving away too many penalties which was allowing a very determined Lewes team to get back into the game. They capitalised on this by spinning the ball wide and scoring in the corner.

This stung Horsham and straight from the kick off they collected the ball and drove into the Lewes 22.

Following good recycling, a strong rolling maul saw captain touch down for Horsham’s second try. Allan converted magnificently from out wide to make the score 15-5.

With young Under-16 fly-half Callum Boswell having a very assured game, Horsham appeared in control.

However, ill discipline at the break down allowed Lewes to force their way into Horsham’s 22 and following some shoddy defending the Lewes right wing touched down in the corner.

Despite Horsham’s dominance the score was now only 15-10 and they needed to increase that before half-time.

The forwards decided to take control of proceedings and following a towering line out take by flanker Daniel Riley on the Lewes 22, the Horsham pack drove for the line with second row Ben Higgs touching down for home team’s third try.

The start of the second half was very cagey with the next score crucial.

Both defences were dominant but following a flowing backs move and some great work by Nwachukwu, a fourth try looked a certainty but the ball was spilled with the line begging.

However, Horsham continued to attack and went on to score two further unconverted tries from wing Liam Mcgivern.

The second was a magnificent team effort, with the ball moved the length of the field, left and right, before Mcgivern touched down in the corner.

This was a very good performance against very strong opposition. Men of the match were Callum Boswell and Tom Hooley, two U16s making their Colts debuts.

Horsham Under-14s earned their place in the Sussex Championship by defeating Chichester 19-0 in a thrilling contest at the Coolhurst Ground.

Backs coach James Penny said: “The boys tackled superbly and played some good attacking rugby.”

Horsham were two league points behind the visitors, who only needed to draw to progress to the final.

Captain Joseph Blake snatched the ball from an opposing player and sprinted to the try line for the game’s opening score.

Blake then lined up the conversion from a long way out and sent the ball sailing between the posts to give Horsham a 7-0 advantage.

Everitt finally spotted a small gap between two Chichester defenders and surged through it to score; with a missed conversion the score was 12-0.

Minutes later, Everitt was involved again in a cunning blindside attack; with nowhere to run, he slipped the ball to the elusive Joseph Humphries, who picked his way through the crowd of defenders to the try line.

Blake completed the scoring for the first half, and indeed, for the whole match with a second well-struck conversion. This put Horsham 19-0 ahead as the players regrouped at half-time.

In the second half Chichester showed renewed determination and vigour, and they were unfortunate not to score a consolation try.

Abbey Boilers Man of the Match: Max Wright

Following a friendly in South London this weekend, Horsham travel to Hove RFC on Sunday, March 30 to compete against Brighton for the Sussex Championship, in a repeat of last season’s final.