Cranleigh U15’s vs Horsham U15’s

Cranleigh U15’s welcomed Horsham U15’s on a very blustery day. 

The pitch allocated for this local derby was  the ‘Nigel Spong’ pitch and after the weeks deluge of rain the middle of the pitch resembled a cattle field. 

When the Ref (Rob) received the nod from the linesmen (Tarek) and the thumbs up from chief timer (Marcus), he blew the whistle for kickoff. 

Burt kicked off ; the receiving Horsham player caught it well and ran back at Cranleigh with some intent to do some damage. Coaches always say that the first hit is the most important one of the game and this award goes to Will S, a great tackle which was knocked on by the Horsham player winning us a scrum just outside of the 22. 

Cranleigh went through some good phases from here but Horsham were quick over the ball to win a turnover which brought play back towards the halfway line. Another knock on from Horsham giving Cranleigh another scrum. 

At this point the teams were looking very evenly matched, this could go either way!From the scrum Burt held his line drawing in the Horsham inside centre which left a gaping hole for Will S to receive the ball and make a break. With just the fallback to beat- Will put in a lovely step which sent him over the try line to score under the posts. 

A fantastic try but due to the high winds the conversion was missed. 5-0 to Cranleigh. 

The kickoff from Horsham was caught by Hugo who had an excellent powering run through the Horsham defence…..until he was eventually snagged. Trying his best to use this opportunity he then offloaded well to Oscar D , who was also hit hard -which unfortunately gave Horsham a turnover at the ruck. 

Horsham had space outside and an overlap, but they failed to use this and instead went back into the traffic, meaning the ball went to ground and another turnover in Cranleigh’s favour. 

The ball was shipped from the base and with some confusion in the centres the ball went loose which was well scooped up by Syd. 

Syd managed to evade one tackle but then got taken to ground, managing a nice pop pass to a supporting Luke (with great pace!) this challenged the Horsham and sent the defence scrambling-which resulted in a desperate high tackle. 

Penalty to Cranleigh just off of the halfway. 

The penalty kick looked like it was going to find touch but an almighty gust of wind denied it and it stayed in play with a surprised Horsham player gathering the ball. 

The rucks were a lottery, both teams had a high success rate of turnovers; the next ruck Cranleigh were victorious . 

The ball found itself in the hands of Will S who made a break down the wing stepping inside and offloading to Oscar D who then offloaded it back to Will S (it was like watching Fijian 7’s) who was tackled 5m metres out. 

With the adrenaline running high, Cranleigh arrived to Will’s rescue but did so off their feet – penalty to Horsham.

The kick didn’t go far which gave Cranleigh a great attacking position in their 22. 

A steady throw in from Jack to jumping Matt Matt, met a nice off the top pass to Zac who in turn passed to Rory. Lovely !

Horsham again putting in a high tackle. A quick tap and go from Hugo scoring a nice try in the left corner. Team work 👌🏻

Conversion missed

Cranleigh 10 – Horsham 0

The game again was going forwards and backwards with the turnovers. 

Eventually the ball came to Dom ;who had a powering run up the centre of the pitch dishing out some text book handoffs, offloading to the speedy backs who scored another nice try under the posts.

A successful conversion by Rory made it 17-0. 

The Cranleigh crowd were loving it. 

Horsham had a good talking to under the posts and came back at Cranleigh determined to put some points on the board. 

Their big impact players started to take some crash balls and they were making significant ground up the pitch. 

A high tackle from Cranleigh on the 5m line gave Horsham their best opportunity of the game so far.

A quick tap and go from Horsham which nearly got them over the line …but a double movement denied them,

Cranleigh were offside so a penalty was awarded. 

This time Horsham shifted the ball wide and broke through to score in the corner. 

Conversion missed 😅

Cranleigh 17 – Horsham 5. 

Last 2 mins of the first half were heated , Horsham were coming back for another. 

Great tackles from Cranleigh, Burt making two consecutive -but took a knock to the head. 

Matt Matt got his hands on the ball and made a run down the wing with Dante supporting well ,but was tackled into touch for half time. 

Horsham kicks off with Dom receiving and taking it into contact. 

After one phase, Rory kicks it deep into the Horsham half with a good follow up tackle from Will. 

The next 10 mins went like the first 10mins of the first half ;lots of good play from both sides in the loose but when it came to the breakdown they failed to secure their own ball. 

The ball gets spilled by Horsham, it’s quickly gathered up by Will who makes a break for It and gets tackled. A quick pop up to Hugo in support gives him a well worked run in try in the corner 🎉

Conversion missed again due to the windy conditions. Not an ideal kicking day. 

Cranleigh 22 – Horsham 5. 

Kicked by Horsham and gathered by Dylan this time who goes on a charging run, only to find a wall of Horsham players who sent him backwards. 

Horsham had upped their aggression. 

The ruck went well and quick ball sent it down the line to the centres, Will S ( having a great game) spotted a gap and went full throttle through it but was chopped down by a fantastic covering tackle.  

Another great pop up to his partner in crime Oscar D ,but sadly knocked it on. 

Scrum to Horsham with a pick and go from the 8 who was quickly tackled. 

Dylan was quick to contest for the ball and steals it. 

The ball makes its way to Dante who was evading the tackles (4 I think) like he was at a disco, some exceptional footwork!

A nice offload to Logan sending him further up the pitch to the Horsham 5m line. Unfortunately Horsham got another turnover and cleared their lines. 

Retrieved nicely by Zac and Will putting a nice chip over the top to find touch in the Horsham 22. 

Horsham win the Lineout and clear their lines again with a long kick down the middle. 

This time is was gathered by Oscar who made a nice run through the defence, offloading to Rory who scored another well worked try!

Conversion missed

Cranleigh 27 – Horsham 5.  

The kick is collected by Harley who goes to ground and presents the ball well , but the arriving Cranleigh players were off their feet. Penalty awarded to a Horsham.  

Horsham go for a tap and go using their big runners to punch holes in the Cranleigh defence. 

Cranleigh are defending well and preventing Horsham from getting over the line, however Horsham are playing it cool and have been camped in the Cranleigh 22 for a good 5-10 mins. 

Eventually they spread it wide where a nice covering tackle from Matt Matt sends the attacker into touch. 

A good line out from Cranleigh and Rory puts boot to ball but doesn’t find touch which gives Horsham another opportunity to throw everything at Cranleigh. 

With time to get up some speed a big tackle was needed to stop the attack…

Will well and truly stepped up -putting in that much needed tackle ,but in doing so ended his time on the pitch and was called to be subbed off. 

Play is stopped for a scrum to Horsham with Syd being subbed for Will, playing the last 5mins at Fullback. 

Horsham no.8 comes off of the back and again this is the start of several phases. 

The play goes out to the backs and a nice chip over the top into space ,but is then swept up by Dante who speeds up the wing to get tackled by the fall back. Followed by a nice offload to Oscar D to score under the posts 💪🏻

Conversion kicked

Cranleigh 34 – Horsham 5. 

Horsham have possession again with 1 minute left on the clock. 

They have a three man overlap and a try looks highly likely! 

The last man in defence is Syd whose opposition is twice his size !

The crowd are all holding their breath……. 

A great tackle from Syd wins Cranleigh a knock on and denies Horsham their last opportunity of scoring. 

From the scrum Rory belts it into touch for the final whistle. 

A great performance from the boys.