Worthing XV 29 v Plumpton/Central Sussex XV 17

The first victory of the week was getting two games on for the rugby squad so a big thank you to Tina and Mike for getting this one organised. Plumpton college also played their part in putting on the game and went so far as to make up the numbers by calling in a favour from Central Sussex College and it was 15 a side at 2.15pm.

 

The going was officially good to soft and heavy in places but the grass was in plentiful supply which allowed for a safe and competitive game to take place.

 

Worthing lined up with a changed line up with a mixture of players from both the 1^st and 2^nd teams, units and combinations being mixed up therefore allowing players to perform along side first second and third year academy students.

 

The start of the match went with the larger home side attacking one out from the breakdown and making inroads into the lighter younger visiting side whom could have been accused of tackling too high. This had the knock on effect of metres being lost around the ruck and an early foray in to the Worthing 22m was eventually halted by solid defensive organisation and manful efforts. This was the last trip up the hill for a while for the home side as the defence held firm and made Plumpton kick, this was charged down and gathered by Clare who made off down the touch line showing a clean pair of heals to the following defenders and dotted down under the horns for the first try.

A carbon copy run down the left wing was to follow minutes later as an excellent break out from the Worthing try line created by Jordan, Fitzgerald, Hart and onto Clare brought the 2^nd 5 pointer.

 

Worthing toiled against a larger and more physical side that though short on cohesion were big on aggression and were more than keen to try everything within the laws (and some things outside them) to gain the advantage. Worthing had the ascendency in the lineout and first phase of the scrum with the tight areas of phase play being dominated by the home side. Worthing got a little excited and tried to run from all over the pitch, this was commendable however it did put the visitors under pressure leading to turn overs in inconvenient place on the field..

 

As the game progressed the were notable performances from Clare on the wing looking dangerous with ball in hand, White with a very high tackle count and Parker was industrious around the break down. Burgess was leading the front row strongly, Collins had a welcome return to play following a long injury and academic sabbatical, Luke carried well in open play and from the base of the scrum although as Pitchford said “his offloads and sling it” as the one handed show time didn’t get the job done as the two handed assist make would have done but that is for another day. Bailey again showed improvement in all areas of his game which is pleasing to see. 

 

 

While the game was stop start with refereeing decisions, freezing weather (and snow) and changing combinations throughout the 4 periods of play and allowed the slightly more substantial and endurance challenged players the chance to get into and stay in the game. As this was the case standards dropped towards the end of the game and Worthing were able to cross for two more scores near the end Parker scoring in the corner which was a nice finish to the day.

 

 

Great to eventually get a game, not excellent having to change so much the day before but Worthing managed to take care of their business and that will do for now. Another big training and playing week to come the week after half term so have a good time out over the next week but make sure you take care of yourselves. Well done on a good win in difficult conditions.