Horden 2nds 19 Heughers 19

A very different team to last year due to unavailability and players progressing to the 1st team so on paper this looked like a tough task but the young and inexperienced team performed well against the strong Horden forwards and easily outpaced the backs.

The first half saw Rovers kicking downhill with the wind so pressure was on to get points but this being the first game for many players and with some playing out of position it was a stuttering start.

After pressure from Horden, Rovers started to string together some passes with Barny and Bubbles both having strong runs. Daz missed a penalty after 10 mins but the home scrum half was making his presence felt against young A.J at the base of the scrum and Horden looked the stronger team.

The game was a bit inconsistent around the rucks with Horden coming out with the majority of ball. It didn’t help that too much ball was being brought back into the forwards by Rovers instead of moving the bigger home pack about the pitch. Despite this Rovers defended well although tackling was a bit half-hearted at times.

The game sprang to life when a Horden attack was cut short by Ben Durrans who stole the ball and showed good pace to sprint 75m to score a great individual try.(proof that pastie diets do work!)

Daz converted, 0 – 7 (27 mins). Horden bounced back with a series of penalties and strong runs from the back row and scrum half, scoring under the posts. 7 – 7 (30 mins).

A good restart take and drive from Chris Taylor was wasted due to another silly penalty and the game continued to be a bit scrappy until half time.

For the second half Ben Durrans moved to scrum half to counteract the physicality of the home 9, A.J who had worked very hard was replaced by Barny who had left earlier to give Monty a run out. Chris Hopkinson came on for Monty, Muller for Bubbles and Adam Boagie came on for Mick Foster in the second row.

Horden were quickly on the attack and scored a converted try after some poor tackling only 2 minutes into the second half, 14 – 7 (42 mins).

A good catch and drive from Taylor was followed by a decent clearance by the impressive Dillon Thomas at full back, then drives from Ben Little and Danny Charters resulted in a penalty that was kicked close to the home line. From the line Carrots sprinted over the line only to be brought back for not straight.

The scrums continued to be under pressure but the Durrans move worked well with him hassling at every opportunity. The tackling improved a bit and the game speeded up suiting Rovers who started to move the ball a lot better. Good from Durrans, Carrots, Dillon and Danny Charters who was coming into the game more showing excellent fitness levels, and Steve Railton who finished off a fine passage of play to score with Daz converting, 14 – 14 (56 mins).

Ben Cush came off and Monty returned to score after good rucking and more quick hands with a delicate chip through from Daz to chase. The conversion was wide 14 – 19 (60 mins).

Horden fought back deep into Rovers territory and a couple of great lineout pinches by Taylor and clearances by Daz relieved the pressure. As always Horden fought hard in the last 5 minutes and after initially holding out well at a 5m scrum, their scrum half forced his way over to score. The game held in the balance of the kick and the referee removed any controversy by taking the responsibility himself and decided it was wide.

Final score 19 – 19.

A promising start to the season with some good individual performances but due to the many changes we were a bit disorganised and need to settle down as a team over the next few weeks.