East Grinstead came through a bruising, busy and occasionally bizarre afternoon to beat Seaford 40–27, in a match that swung from flowing rugby to rugged warfare before finally settling in Gs’ favour.

It was Seaford who struck first after six minutes, applying early pressure before driving over from a lineout for the opening try. But East Grinstead’s response was swift. On 18 minutes, a well-structured phase attack created a gap for Guy Collins, whose surge set up Max Crawley Moore for a tidy finish.

From there, Gs began to find their stride. On 24 minutes, a sharp strike move from a scrum saw the ball spread wide, with Ben Marelli producing a moment of pure invention to nudge the ball in behind and regather for a brilliant finish in the corner. Five minutes later, a lineout inside the 22 led to some clever, unstructured attack, with play reversed neatly for John Peaty to finish in space.

Gs were not done there. After pinning Seaford back on their own five-meter line, East Grinstead moved the ball left before firing it back right for Jack Andrews to crash over on 33 minutes. Seaford hit back on 37 minutes with a score from an attacking lineout and a clever cut back against the grain, but Gs had the final word of the half. A try initially sparked by an electric run from Ted Hardisty was ruled out for a knock-on, only for skipper Rory Evans to win the turnover from the next scrum and send Max Crawley Moore over for his second right on half-time.

The second half began in much the same vein, with Noah Roberts finishing neatly under the posts on 47 minutes after some lively, unstructured Gs attack. At that stage, East Grinstead looked in full control.

But rugby, especially grassroots rugby, is rarely so straightforward. Gs began to switch off, Seaford sensed their chance, and the visitors punished some slack defending with tries on 55 and 71 minutes to keep themselves in the contest.

What followed in the final quarter was less polished rugby and more an all-out physical tug-of-war, as the game turned into an arm wrestle. Gs, to their credit, stood firm. In a strange closing spell, the referee handed out a flurry of yellow cards to East Grinstead for a mix of discipline slips, adding one final layer of chaos to an already eventful afternoon.

Still, Gs had done enough. They held their ground enough to seal a 40–27 win for the last league game of the year.

Man of the Match went to Ben Marelli, whose audacious try in the first half lit up the contest and helped set the tone for a memorable East Grinstead victory.