East Grinstead ran out against Trojans, on a gorgeous summers day, for the Papa John's semi final, but it all ended in tears from Aaron...

Trojans kicked off and got stuck straight in to testing G’s defence. A slick early forray towards the G’s tryline was quickly shut down, Sam Lindsay-McCall with a great jackal leading to a penalty and exit. Unfortunately, soon after, a penalty against G’s was awarded and Trojans took the first 3 points of the afternoon. Both sides then spent the next 20 mins testing each others resolve with kicks and strike moves with little success.

Trojans then made a break from their half. A well placed kick and composed rugby led to a powerful try in the corner.

A great kickoff to restart put Trojans under pressure. The boys probing the Trojans 5m several times but just couldn't find the final pass. As often happens when you miss a few chances, the oppo capitalise. Trojans moved into the G’s half with a couple of cheap penalties which inevitably led to another score as their big one up runners eventually broke the blue wall.

At the break, it wasn't looking good. With the score showing 0 - 13 to the Hampshire visitors. Hopes were not totally dashed however, as G’s were now playing the better rugby and the big Trojan pack was slowing down!

The second half kicked off and G’s were obviously keen to show what they could do. Great pressure pushed Trojans back, as G’s came at them wave after wave. Noah pulling the strings like a maestro, seemingly waltzing through the oppo defence at will. Eventually, the Trojan horse was breached as Sam and Aaron combined to sneak through once more, finally creating the space for Mark to go over the white wash and send the crowd crazy.

The conversion was missed, but after this, it was all G’s, as they tightened the screw and camped out in the Trojan 22. A fantastic kick from Jake saw Ben Marelli streak down his wing in pursuit, the speedy winger gathering the ball, much to the defending full backs’ dismay. Ben was dragged down short, but quick ball to the left saw Connor in space who made no mistake. Noah kicked the extras amid a wall of noise from the EG massive, to drag the score to 12 - 13 with 20 to play.

Trojans just couldn’t find an exit as G’s came hard again. Urged on by the now expectant crowd, the five feathers were playing some of the best rugby of the season. Big Guy, who had a fantastic game, crashed over to take the lead... but no, ruled out for a knock on. G’s were not deterred and came hard again. Trojans crumbled and a penalty awarded. This was no ‘gimmy’, but MotM Noah, cooly stepped up to knock it over and take the lead for the first time, 15 - 13.

If the fans were loud before, they were positively raucous now, especially when Luke smashed a 50 - 22 to win a line out on the Trojans 5m with 5 mins on the clock to play. Surely we were home and dry?

Sport can be cruel. With two minute to play, for one of the rare occasions in the second half, Trojans played their way into the G’s half. The groans from the crowd as the refs arm went up for a high tackle, turned to disbelieving wails as the Trojan 10 slotted the ball between the sticks to snatch the lead with seconds remaining. There was no time to respond as the Trojans gathered the final play restart.

The game was brilliant! Two teams playing great rugby going toe to toe. Huge congratulations to Trojans, we will be supporting you in the semi! Big thanks also to the spectators from both sides who made the day memorable with some great banter and noise.

See you all next season!!