Holbrook triumphant at Burgess Hill

SUSSEX SPITFIRE LEAGUE 1
BURGESS HILL – V – HOLBROOK
10 ----- 14

Expecting similar tactics, Holbrook were not surprised and Worries that this match might see a repeat of last year were soon dispensed with as Holbrook started strongly with their pack competing well and their lineout looking strong. They soon created a couple of good try scoring opportunities, only for poor handling to let them down. Alex Meredith, playing in his unaccustomed position at Fly Half managed the Holbrook possession well and his clever tactical kicking and variety of play kept Holbrook on top. With 15 minutes gone a good counter attack led by Rich smith saw number eight Dan Vander sprint over the Hill line from 25 yards out , missing the conversion put Holbrook 5-0 up and looking good.
Hill, however, had other ideas and some extremely lax defence work by Holbrook, which consisted of standing stationary, watching the Hill backs chase and seize a kick , which had appeared harmless, saw Hill take the lead at 7-5 almost from the restart.
Both sides struggled to retain possession spilling ball and throwing poor passes and with the two back rows performing strongly the battle at the breakdown was ferocious. The game though was evenly balanced at this stage as both sides struggled to find any fluency. The only ball either back line seeing was when counter attacking from kicks by both number 10’s. A penalty to Hill took them into half time 10-5 ahead.
The second half continued in similar fashion to how the first half ended, both back rows working well and negating each other at the breakdown, until finally the ref had had enough and Dave Thomas, the Holbrook number seven was chosen to spend 10 minutes in the bin.
With Holbrook down to 14 Hill generated a resurgence and started to build strong attacks, however, their poor decision making and handling continued to affect them. Add to this a robust defence by the whole of the Holbrook team and the advantage of the extra man was never converted to points.
Injuries to Dan Vander and Rich Smith brought fresh legs onto the field for Holbrook and with their lineout outperforming Hill they began to secure more ball. However, the curse of bad handling continued and most attacks petered out in disappointing fashion. Back to a full complement of 15 Holbrook sensed a chance of victory and began to mount attacks on the Hill line. Hill now began to fall apart, arguing with the ref and give away too many penalties. From one of these Ash Sporne made it 10-11 and we were entertained by a tense last 10 minutes.
The result was still in doubt as a cheeky drop goal by Alex Meredith increased the Holbrook lead with 5 minutes to go. Desperate defensive work then cemented a fine victory for Holbrook.
Coach Steve Heaton was delighted with his team’s grit and determination and picked out his back row of Dan Vander, Dave Thomas and Steyne Van Der Mers as key players in the victory. “They all covered every inch of the park and tackled anything that came to them as well as making many excellent carries. Coupled with the great lineout work of Dan and Steyne this gave us a great platform to win the match.”