Midhurst 8- Pulborough 2's 12

A tight encounter saw the Pirates return to second in the league. Away fixtures are coming thick and fast for the 2's but there is a growing belief within the team that they can win against the best teams in the league, home and away.

With the usual selection headaches in the forwards and availability headaches in the backs, 'Boro were fielding a strong side. A strong start was needed but, again, we let the opposition determine the pace of the game. A penalty was conceded in front of the posts after some wall to wall defence. 3-0.

This early period of play proved to be a fairly brutal exchange. Ben Sadler went off with what would later turn out to be a broken thumb and within minutes Jack Soloman broke his hand. Without wanting to be outdone Marc Livesley managed to get his nose broken as well. Great start.

But the Pirates didn't lose heart. With new fly half, Jordan Cox, getting to grips with the game and narrowly missing a long distance penalty attempt the 'Boro boys found themselves dominating territory. After a series of forward phases, Chris Francis and Stu Standing lending a lot of power, Jonny Scrase got quick ball from a ruck on the 5 meter line and switched the play going blind. Fast hands put the ball out to Sam Beesley, having given up his season ticket at Twickenham just this once to play against his old club. Anyway, the Racehorse crossed the whitewash only to be met with a few sour grapes, to which he did the mature thing and threw the ball at the opposition player, but luckily missed... from 3 metres. Well done. 3-5.

Pulborough were on a bit a roll now and a slimmer looking Will Jordan returning to rugby after a couple years away started to blow out a few cobwebs. Along with Henry Limpus, there were some hard lines being run but all credit to the Midhurst defence, each attack was equalled by some strong tackling.

After halftime, Midhurst went on the attack and it wasn't long before they found a massive overlap and went over in the corner. 8-5.

This only served to wind up the Pirates though. With the opposition getting increasingly desperate, more penalties were being given away. And a penalty 10 metres out saw the classic tactic of giving it to the smallest bloke on the pitch. Captain Joe Leddra ran hard at the line and managed to squeeze between and under a few of the opposition to get the ball down for his first try of the season. It was great to get the monkey off his back! Converted by Jordan Cox. 12-8.

The last 10 minutes saw an assault on the 'Boro line. Luckily, the boys really like to win. However hard Midhurst tested the defence it held strong. Josh 'Chunky' Haulkham meeting some hard runners on the gain line. Stu Standing skipping round the pitch after being moved into the back row and Marc Livesley returning to play plastered in Vaseline, both defending strongly. And Late Diserens putting in a huge tackle in the last play of the game to dislodge the ball from his opposite number.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable win that came down to the wire. Midhurst can consider themselves unlucky at times but the iron will of the Pirates proved the deciding factor once again. Special mention to Matt Coral who popped up everywhere and put in an excellent performance. And, man of the match this week, Oscar Gravell for another solid display and taking more punishment than any back can normally handle. Perhaps he is a forward after all...

1 Alan Nye 2 Matt Coral 3 Roland Dicks 4 Jack Corbett 5 Marc Livesley 6 Joe Leddra (c) 7 Ben Sadler 8 Sam Beesley 9 Jonny Scrase 10 Jordan Cox 11 Jack Soloman 12 Will Jordan 13 Josh Haulkham 14 Oli Bamber 15 Oscar Gravell 16 Chris Francis 17 Stu Standing 18 Jake Diserens 19 Henry Limpus

Joe Leddra- 2nd XV captain