G's v Eastbourne

He who sings last, sings loudest...

A game marked in our calendars early doors, with a great rivalry being formed between the two teams, it was always going to be an absolute fire cracker of a game! Even more so with the weather conditions. The day started with Ryland being informed we had an exchange referee, which got him wondering if he had to start pulling out his French skills, luckily it was only an exchange from Kent.

Eastbourne turned up with in typical fashion with great travelling support, who made themselves very comfortable front and centre on the balcony. Not sure if this was an attempt to intimidate or not, but it definitely grew the fire in the Grinstead teams belly. With ref introductions complete and coin toss details finalised, the first whistle was only a heartbeat away. One last rousing speech by Ryland to get the boys ready for what would end up being a very nervy affair.

Eastbourne with the KO got the game underway. Guy Collins securing the high ball allowed for a clearance, with early ferocious contacts, with backs and forwards linking well to keep Eastbourne out defensively. The backs, now with a regular partnership being formed between Ben Saunders and Sam Musgrave, showed great defensive link-up play to push the Eastbourne backs quickly back into their own half. Eastbourne, bogged down in the wet and muddy conditions found themselves struggling for options to get through the Grinstead line and resorted to their trusty kicking play, which granted, worked for them well.

However…What they forgot about were our 3 Musketeers in the backfield, of Jake Radcliffe, Ted Hardisty and Luke Maker, finally playing in his favoured position of 15, commanding the backfield like a Field Marshal, dictating the areas to be playing in when kicks received and either returning for great yardage or shipping out to his wingers, it was Jake who soon found himself with an opportunity to break the Eastbourne lines, Quickly defended by Eastbourne but some great support by the Grinstead pack to get back into the patterns, Sam Musgrave with a lovely wide arching run out wide found himself darting for the line, however with the drag of his hair slowing him down and not wearing his trusty head tape this week, had to rely on a splendid bit of play by Dan Billins, playing the game of his life, to dink it through for an easy dot over the whitewash. Eastbourne looking on in disbelief as they looked unsure with how to handle the speed of the G's attacks.

Grinstead receiving again. Rather than kicking this time, we deciding to use the battering ram that is Connor Leggat to start rumbling up-field and seeing what Eastbourne had left in the tank. A very sturdy defence and some luck of the refs whistle saw a forward pass awarded which had Dan Billins splitting the backs if allowed. Eastbourne with an opportunity in the Grinstead half, and an opportunity they took, with penalties now starting to pile up they soon found themselves a sniff away from the Grinstead line, G’s having worked tirelessly on their lineouts were finding great joy in defending the Eastbourne attempts, however in a lapse of judgment the 2 backrowers over shot their defensive duties allowing the Eastbourne backs to run through at the 9 and 10 for an easy run over the line. 5 – 7 to Eastbourne.

Grinstead now with a real game on their hands, knew they had to work for their next points, A scrum for Grinstead off the halfway line, and a well run attacking play from the Grinstead backs, saw none other than Ted Hardisty through on goal, skipping past 3 players so elegantly, a dotting down over the line!.. Until the ref pulled them back for a knock on. No score, with utter disbelief around the ground scrum time.

Eastbourne this time round giving the Grinstead pack something to work for, by being by far our hardest scrummaging oppo this year to date, which was a great cap to wear for them, cleared their lines well. It wasn’t long though before back into their patterns, Grinstead found themselves knocking on the line and Joshua Brimcombe running the hard line off Noah’s shoulder plodded over for the points. Back in front and starting to feel the rhythm now.

A YELLOW CARD! some great running rugby, but poor rucking form, saw Grinstead’s captain sent off, for a no arms collision. Grinstead would have to see the last 5 and first 5 of the second half a man down. With some great tactical play from the boys they wound the clock down limiting the ball in play to about 2 minutes before the full team was back together.

The Eastbourne travelling support doing their best to get under the G’s team’s skin, being very original by singing the Grinstead songs, I imagine its hard when you haven’t got a song of your own, or one that’s good more like. Well this did enough to keep our heads on tight and game plan in order. Eastbourne with one final attempt to get the game back, found themselves on the 5m line, and with some G's positional errors, managed to run it through a gap made by a non-player. 15 – 14 with 10 minutes to play.

The last 10 minutes was a mental back and fourth and showed just how far Grinstead have come to keep their cool under intense pressure and lock games out. Finally the ref blew with the final score 15-14.

The G’s singing the Grinstead song, with only a handful of Eastbourne supporters left to witness it, I think a few tails quickly fell between a few legs after that whistle was blown.

Next week sees a cup game against Brighton 2’s away which I’m sure will be another huge battle.