East Grinstead welcomed Jersey Reds to Horsham’s 4G pitch, owing to the icy conditions and unplayable pitches at home.
The game began with a respectful 1 min silence to mark the sad events in Jersey this weekend.

East Grinstead got off to an absolutely scorching start - almost threatening to melt the frost - as wing Knotty took a clean catch from the skippers pinpoint kick off down the left wing to march into the Red’s 22. Jersey managed through some tough counter rucking to turn the ball over, but from the resulting scrum, Grinstead’s pack steel one against the head, then following some swift phases and quick recycling prop forward Bryan Karimanzira crashed through the Jersey defence to open scoring after 3 mins

5 - 0

Jersey were stunned Into action, and hit back applying pressure on ‘Grinstead from the restart, but an excellent jackle and turnover from flanker Max Godfrey provided relief, and a chance for the colts to grab some precious territory and to attack once more, and they didn’t disappoint, as winger Knotty finished a flowing movement in the left hand corner, from a move that began wide out on the right, great handling as forwards and backs interlinked seamlessly to identity where the spaces were the pitch, with the final pass coming from No.8 Connor Madden.
It’s a simple game eh .. ?!!?

10 - 0

Jersey yet again put pressure on the restart as the tenacious Reds No.8 charged down an attempted clearance kick from inside the 22 and chased down his own charge-down to score beside the posts for Jersey’s opening score

10 - 7

East Grinstead’s colts were now under pressure, on the pitch and on the scoreboard, but Godfrey continues to put his head into some dark places and secure vital turnover ball, and a chance to take a further 3 points to extend the lead, despite a strike as crisp as the frost on surrounding grass and trees the penalty attempt sailed agonizingly past the uprights and score remained the same. Both sides continued to attack and defend with great passion and commitment, and impress both physically and skilfully with some searing pace on both wings for both teams, this is an encounter to warm the supporters watching on as the snow began to fall. G’s line out and set piece functioned really well, with big Reg regularly hitting the target with some fine darts. The next score came from a slick driving maul on Jerseys 22’ as the forwards powered up the pitch, transferring the ball sweetly to the back of the maul, before the G’s young powerful Centers George Sutton and Oscar Reed drew in Reds defenders in the midfield before “lively 6ft 8 stud of a second row forward” (his words) Zach Bradbury powers over making up for his glaring drop earlier as he managed to spill the ball forward with the try line under his nose!!!

15-7

As half time loomed, flying winger Knotty continued to press forward with footwork worthy a seasonal glittery BBC1 show, to set up Ellis Benyon for another East Grinstead try as Noah added the extras. Half time

22 - 7

Jersey came out fired up after half time, and looked to take advantage of a slightly sleepy looking East Grinstead, had Half time come at the wrong time for the hosts? Had they got literal as well as metaphorical cold feet? After some fine interplay and genuine wheels from the Reds wingers a superb try was finished off in the right hand corner. The following conversion was worthy of gracing any stage, as Jerseys 10 slotted from wide out on the right hand touch line, and Jersey were right back in it.

22 - 14

The ebb and flow of this entertaining contest continued as both teams serve up a thrilling encounter, played out in a well natured but physical manner. Some excellent vision from Ellis Benyon resulted in a score for skipper Noah Roberts, as he popped a cheeky kick over the on rushing defence for Noah to chase down before fly hacking on to score close to the posts

27 - 14

The Colts really gelled today as the pack continued it’s dominance at scrum time and the backs carved out further opportunities, which saw an audacious drop goal attempt from fully 35mtrs out sail inches past the uprights, continuing to put pressure on the dogged Jersey defence. Skipper Roberts secured a brace of tries and converted his own try successfully to take the score to 34 - 14

A genuine highlight in the game came from two of the second rows Zach Bradbury and Ben Masterton. Zach’s clean catch in the backfield was ok, but his attempted dummy kick and “Goosey” managed only to fool himself as the Reds defence swallowed him up - it raised a giggle among the crowds and both teams alike, There is a reason forwards are forwards, stick to jumping, lifting and hitting lines round breakdowns !! Ben also decided to draw on his inner winger, as he galloped down the wing for a full 60 meters showing a clean pair of heels to the chasing Reds. Ben was eventually hauled down before sucking in some big breaths and topping off his barnstorming run with another 5 pointer for East Grinstead’s galant galloping colts!! A rare flashpoint in the game saw Grinstead’s 10 yellow carded along with his reds combatant, for the remaining 9 mins.

Jersey were never out of this contest though, and managed a final score as the clock ticked against them, as the extras were secured the score was now 39 - 21 with only minutes remaining. Neither team managed to bother the scorers again, and as the final whistle blew, victory was celebrated, a tight tunnel was formed, and a lot of back side slapping commenced to bring to end a wonderful game of rugby.