Worthing 7 Horsham 17
It was the proverbial "game of two halves" as Horsham U13s came back from 7-0 down at half time to win 17-7 at Worthing on Sunday. The Horsham forwards struggled in the early stages as a strong Worthing pack drove them backwards and won several against the head to ensure plenty of possession. Fierce tackling, especially from Greg Holt and Liam Yeates, looked likely to prevent Worthing from breaking the defence but Horsham had little possession of their own to mount counter attacks. What little they did have was quickly snuffed out as several Billy Twelvetrees runs were forcefully stopped by the Worthing defence. Worthing varied their tactics by kicking over the top and gave Horsham full back Sam Rice, who had a sound game, an opportunity to show off his handling skills. The first half continued to be played in the Horsham half with Horsham kicking downfield on numerous occasions to relieve the pressure only to give Worthing an opportunity to run at them again. Eventually the chip and chase tactics paid off for Worthing as they were first to touch down a perfectly weighted ball between the posts and converted to make it 7-0.
Horsham came under pressure soon after as fly half Twelvetrees again chose to run at Worthing himself when he had a chance to give his wingers a run and conceded possession. Worthing now mounted a powerful attack which Horsham defended well to hold up over the try line and Twelvetrees made amends with a try saving tackle from the resulting five metre scrum and kicked downfield to leave Horsham just 7-0 down at half time and lucky to be still in it.
Horsham started the second half much better as runs by Rice, Yeates and Twelvetrees began to stretch Worthing. Twelvetrees then brillantly charged down and caught an attempted clearance to give Horsham their first chance with both George Gill and Michael Clarke then coming close. Another run by Rice was cruelly ended by a high tackle but justice was done as Twelvetrees outpaced the Worthing defence from the penalty to score in the corner. The Horsham forwards now began to hold their own as their opponents tired. Greg Holt freed Michael Clarke whose fine run took him close to the line with Twelvetrees there to finish off between the posts and convert to give Horsham the lead at 12-7.
As the game took its toll on both sides, Horsham now brought on fresh players in the shape of forwards Hugh McAloon and Ed Neal. This maintained Horsham's momentum and moments later Horsham used the kick and charge tactic to great effect. Joe Davis was quickly up to pressurise the Worthing defence following a Twelvetrees kick and a kind bounce enable him to kick it past the defender and touch down to make the game safe at 17-7. The game ended with Worthing again pressing forward to gain the consolation score their efforts had deserved.
Squad: Barber, Bell, Clarke, Davis, Gill, Goodman, Hollins, Holt, McAloon, Miller, Neal, Ordidge, Rice, Scholefield, Taylor, Twelvetrees, Yeates.