Firsts move into Semi Final with win at Pulborough

Having lost to Pulborough a few weeks back in the league the mood around the camp was very much one of setting the record straight. We played with the wind and slope in the first half and started steadily but it was Pulborough who got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty after six minutes. For the remainder of the half we maintained possession well and played much of the game in the Pulborough half. The forwards were dominating up front and the scrum was working well. Our first try came after some sustained pressure in the Pulborough twenty two. Pulborough actually forced a turnover and passed the ball into the try area. The winger got flustered and dropped the ball and Frankie Robinson pounced for the touch down. Cooke missed the conversion.
Perry was carrying well and was well supported by Arnold and Burger. From good link up play we got an attacking penalty which we kicked to touch. Excellent lineout work and a good drive lead to the second try with Funnell flopping over. Cooke converted. We were staring to link up really well between backs and forwards and a series of phases with hard carries from forwards and backs a like opened up the space for simple straight hands for Scotty Anderson to score out wide. It was great simple rugby. Cooke missed the conversion. A couple of opportunities came and went before the half time whistle came. 17-3 at half time was a strong start but we knew we wanted to build on it and not let them back in. A couple of changes were made with Leggat replacing Burger and Sandys coming on for Cooke and Swadling moving to 10.

We started the second half with a bang and put pressure straight on the Pulborough defence. A huge carry from Perry with four players hanging off him set up great attacking position in the Pulborough half. A series of phases and interplay provided Carr with the opportunity to go over for the fourth try of the day. Swadling took on the kicking duties and made sure of the extras, just!!!! From the kick off a clean take and offload saw Swadling with the ball. A dynamic powerful run from well inside his own half saw him beat several would be tacklers before finally getting caught on the twenty two. Arnold, as always, was on hand to offer support and collected the pass and with a tackler hanging off him powered over the line under the posts. Great rugby from the two. Bridges replaced Perry and Taylor replaced Oliver. We continued to dominate for the next ten minutes and but for a poor pass could have had a couple more tries. After 55 minutes, due to a number of injuries throughout the game, the scrums went uncontested. After this point we pretty much stopped playing. We were noticeably less intense in attack and defence with the odd exception, Bridges made some huge tackles. However, this allowed Pulborough to have sustained periods of possession for the first time in the match and they made the most of it scoring three tries in the final 25 minutes. During this period we lost Anderson firstly to a yellow card for ten minutes for a deliberate knock on and then a few minutes after he came back on having been tipped tackled he received a straight red card for his retaliation with the Pulborough player a yellow for the tip tackle. The final score of 31-18 probably doesn't quite reflect how dominant we were for the first 55 minutes. But we will certainly have to make sure we don't have another 25 minutes like the last 25 on Saturday again.

Head Coach Rhodri Lewis said, ' Great result today and a fantastic 55 minutes. We lost our way in the last 25 after it went uncontested and lost a lot of intensity. It was nice to get a victory over them after the loss in the league a few weeks back. We had some really strong performances today from Arnold, Perry who is gradually getting towards full fitness, Swadling and Carr. We now have both the first and second teams top of their leagues and in the semi final of their respective cup competitions. Challenging for four pieces of silverware in a rebuilding season is amazing and we need to stay fully focussed for the remaining 8 weeks.'

This week we have two home games with the firsts playing Midhurst who will provide a stern test and the twos playing Pulborough 3s in the first leg of the league play offs. 2.30 kick offs and we would love to have your support.