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Colts - 19 Horsham Colts - 22
14/03/2010
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Oh so close .....
A combined Colts side from Cranleigh & Old Guildfordians came within a whisker of recording their 4th win of the season as first Euan Johnston’s drop goal attempt shaved the outside of the post & then right at the death Rory Eves thought he’s scored a second try, only for it to be adjudged inches short on the grounding. It did not help that the lines were not marked up though!
Horsham’s 14 men, including a hooker leant to them by the visitors, were just the better side on the day in a classic game of two halves, the first being very open & rather scrappy, the second being rather more structured & forward dominated.
The home side scored first, but this was quickly answered by a storming run though the middle by the visitor’s star man, Denis-John “Widgy” Woodhouse, duly converted to leave Cranfordians leading 5-7.
Horsham added a second & then third try before half time, showing their class in the backs, but not before visiting prop James Longbon had stormed over the line in fine style, so at half time the score was 15-12 in favour of the home side.
Cranfordians identified that Horsham’s main threat was their outside centre. They had already fallen for a couple of variations of the same backs move, so resolved not to again. The plan for the second half was to kick the ball into the bottom corner, using the advantage of wind & slope, then take on the home pack.
This is pretty much what happened, but unfortunately Horsham had not read the script & scored an early converted try under the post to lead 22-12.
After that it was mostly Cranfordians forward pressure, with the occasional Horsham break out. To their credit the home side defended their line strongly, scrummaged extremely well & won their fair share of lineout ball, especially at 2 where their principal jumper was very good.
However Cranfordians were determined not to be denied & on their umpteenth visit to the bottom corner used a clever lineout variation to pop the ball to Rory Eves at the front, who did extremely well to score in the corner. An excellent touchline conversion by Euan Johnston left the match hanging in the balance with the score 22-19.
Horsham responded in typically spirited fashion from the restart to establish field position in the visitor’s half, but Johnston soon probed the corner again & after a series of pick & goes, Eves thought he had won it, only to be denied by inches & a lack of visible whitewash! Credit to both sides for a good
