Southgate Tame Black Horse

The last pre-season friendly before the season really begins and what a way to go into a league campaign.

8 tries in a game that saw Southgate run the game start to finish.

It all started after 5 minutes in, as quick thinking at the base of the ruck from Colin saw him snipe around the fringes and run in a score from the edge of the Black Horse 22. It was a promising start to what would become a rout, as Andy and Adam linked with the rest of the backline to get themselves on the score sheet and Southgate a commanding lead. Despite the great offence play from us, the Black Horse several times threatened on the counter as they looked to kick over the top looking for an outlet for their dangerous Fullback to attack, thankfully our 3/4's dealt superbly with this aerial threat and we went into the half 28 points up.

The second-half performance mirrored the first one as the backline continued to work their dangerous running lines, gaining precious yards and showing what Southgate playing on the front foot could achieve. As Black Horse tired the floodgates began to open as Adam and Andy went on to complete hat-tricks they'd threatened to complete in the first half. A further score for captain Nick came from a fantastic break from Johnny who fell just short of the try line. The rout was nearly completed in fantastic fashion as from the final play the ball came from the back of the scrum and found it's way to Martin on the wing, he proceeded to stride down the wing (from just outside Southgate's 22) breaking two tackles only to be caught just shy of the try line as a tap tackle from the covering winger brought him into touch. Full Time 0-54

Coach Samuel Saterlay said after the game "All summer we have been working on support play and playing as a team this performance shows how well it can work I'm looking forward to the season ahead and can't wait to see the amazing results in the future"

Next week we host Beaconsfield rugby club 3s in our first league game of the season at the Walkerground. The game will hold a minutes silence in memory for one of our own Graham Atwood (Arfur) so if people would like to pay their respects and watch Southgate please head down.