Ports find form but too late for victory

Rye Ports 19 Hove 3rd XV 38

1 Monks 2 Porter 3 Bristow (Capt) 4 Webster 5 Poulter 6 A Neill 7 Sinclair 8 J Neill 9 Hall 10 Eastwood 11 Hollman 12 Trabby-Rubin 13 Warman 14 Sheppard 15 Kearney 16 Howells 17 Perkins 18 Brown 19 Smith 20 Edwards 21 Hassall 22 Bigg

A large Rye Ports squad was assembled for their first league game, but Rye knew a tough game faced them after two heavy defeats to Hove for Cinque Ports last season. This was cemented further when the visitors scored two quick tries and Ports had to make a raft of changes after injuries to Steve Hall, Barry Porter and Tom Poulter in the early stages of the game. Ports showed willing throughout Ben Sinclair, Ross Kearney and Archie Neill all made key tackles, but the defensive line speed was lacking and this led to a third Hove try. Ports were dangerous in possession though and strong carries by the Niell brothers got go forward before Murray Warman split the defence. He found Chris Eastwood and his pass gave Ben Sinclair a trot home. Henry Sheppard converted from out wide. Despite being loaded with dangerous runners the defence still lacked some structure and saw Hove ease into a 31-7 half time lead. Where the home team discipline had put them under pressure in the first half it was a different picture in the second half. Replacement Tom Perkins caused devastation with the ball in hand sucking in defenders and piling up the yards. The second half was an arm wrestle, and it took an audacious catflap pass by prop Tom Monks which was fed through Oscar Trabby-Rubin and Ben Hassall to Sheppard diving in the corner to open the scoring, Hove settled their nerves with another score before Warman split the line and finished well. Sheppard adding another conversion. Despite another strong run by Perkins Rye couldn’t quite find the fourth try and a bonus point and the game ended 38-19

As the game grew the Ports team became increasingly cohesive, with strong performances from Eastwood pulling the strings and Perkins who was a constant thorn in Hove’s side. However, the player of the match performance went to Ben Sinclair. The forward was strong in defence and attack and imperious at the line out.

Team manager Gavin Thomas placed the result in context “We didn’t get the result we wanted on the field. However, in a climate where less people are playing rugby we have created a team from scratch and are forming a real bond between players. These are the foundations and we are building something beautiful”.

Rye Ports continue at home on November 7th with a cup tie vis Brighton & Sussex Medical Students.