East Grinstead traveled to Shoreham this weekend for a fixture layered with a bit of extra spice. Standing in the opposite dugout was Shoreham's head coach, Ryan Morlen, who led the G's until last season. While the reunion was friendly off the pitch, the G's were determined to ensure his new side didn't claim an EGRFC scalp.

The G’s started with the kind of clinical edge coaches dream of. The opening try for Ali Moffatt was a pure team effort; the forwards executed their shape to perfection, creating a platform that allowed the ball to zip through the hands out the back for Ali to finish in the corner. Things went from good to great shortly after. Jack Andrews crossed for a try that was a genuine masterclass in backplay; slick hands and perfect timing from every player involved left the Shoreham defense chasing shadows.

However, the early fireworks soon gave way to a bit of a slog. After the bright start, EG found themselves being dragged down to play at Shoreham’s level. The game became scrappy, and Shoreham capitalized on the lull to bag their first try. The physicality was high, and Josh Weaver found out the hard way after being "absolutely smoked" in a tackle, courtesy of a textbook hospital pass from Oscar that left him with nowhere to go.

The second half required a spark to restore order, and it came from a familiar source. Mark Lewis spotted a gap at a ruck on the Shoreham line and produced a classic scrum-half snipe to score. The try doesn’t just help the scoreboard; it moves Mark up to joint-top try scorer for the club this season.

Discipline then took a turn when Ben Tottman was shown a yellow card, adding another entry to his famously long list of career cautions. In a rare twist of fate, however, this was arguably the first one he didn’t actually deserve. Shoreham took advantage of the man-over, crossing for their second try while Ben was cooling his heels.

Deciding they’d played enough at Shoreham's pace, the G's finally turned it on in the closing stages, and the centre partnership of Andrews and Max Crawley-Moore began to click. Weighing more than most forwards, the pair brought a physical presence to the midfield that proved far too much for the hosts to handle. Max’s try was the embodiment of mass times acceleration usually equals points. A perfectly timed, clever line from Andrews opened the initial crack, allowing Max to burst through on a secondary line at pace to barge over, leaving the defence reeling under the combined weight of the two centres.

There was even time for some "accidental" forward brilliance. Connor Leggat scored from what looked like a textbook line-out catch and drive. While the sideline cheered the tactical execution, the pack later admitted they’d actually gotten the entire call wrong…it just happened to work out perfectly.

Man of the Match: Noah Roberts
A standout performance from Noah, who controlled the game beautifully. He scored a fantastic individual try and his kicking out of hand was elite all game, repeatedly pinning Shoreham back and relieving pressure when the G's needed it most.
A solid bonus-point win on the road, even if we took the scenic route to get there!

Onwards.