Right from the kick-off at bright but freezing Crawley it was clear that the Shoreham team were well-motivated and keen to put in a good performance against a very evenly-matched Crawley side.

Some tough tackles on both sides saw possession change a few times and a fabulous team combination between Filo, Sam, Jamie and Pablo led to a burst by Riley who was taken out of touch just before crossing the line. From the restart, though, Crawley broke through the Shoreham lines and, despite a valiant chase by Jamie, scored the first try.

The Shoreham team bounced back immediately, with strong runs from Filo and Conn, tackles flying in from Henry and it was only some very strong defence by Crawley that held up Sam from equalising. Two strong runs by Kieran followed and the one way traffic seemed to have been rewarded when Pablo crossed the line, only to be brought back for an earlier knock-on.

Crawley’s reprieve was limited, however, when Eoghan spotted a gap round the back of a strong ruck, darted through several tackles and touched down to make it 1-1.

From the restart, Crawley forced Shoreham on to the defensive and several tackles on Crawley’s larger players forced them to try a kicking game, which we seemed to have defended well. However, a brief lapse in concentration let Crawley burst through for another individual try.

Again, the Shoreham team kept their heads up and almost immediately a combination of Roshan, Filo and Sam set up Martin for a superb team try.

Towards the end of the first half, there then seemed no stopping the team. Jamie tackled hard and the ball was turned over to Kieran who nearly made it over the line. Then some excellent rucking set up Filo to charge over and Shoreham took the lead for the first time. Before half time, the lead was extended as the boys showed their skill in passing all the way down the line for Pablo to score and we went in with a 4-2 lead.

Half time and a couple of substitutions seemed to make the team switch off a bit and at the start of the second half some missed tackles brought Crawley back into the game with two quick tries and then, despite another strong tackle by Henry, they retook the lead at 5-4.

Still, Shoreham were in high spirits, though, Jake and Jacob both made good tackles and fought hard for the ball. Then, following a well set-up ruck, Eoghan ran almost the entire length of the pitch before being tackled just a few metres short and, from the resulting turnover ball, Martin had to sprint almost as far in the opposite direction to dive on the ball and save an almost certain try from a long Crawley kick. Eventually, our pressure told as Jamie passed to Kieran for another equalising try.

Sadly, the game took a nasty turn as, following a really strong run down the left wing, Riley fell awkwardly under a tackle and had to retire with a nasty injury.

After a few more substitutions, we again lost the ball and Crawley retook the lead. The end-to-end action continued, however, as Finn made some useful passes coming on at scrum half and the team combined well, with Martin doing some great work to set up Pablo to score his second after a jinking run and seemingly earn a deserved draw.

However, in a scrappy last minute of play and despite some valiant tackling, Crawley got over the line in the last play of the match to make the final score 7-6.

The spectators were highly entertained, which kept the cold out. Hot dogs were enjoyed afterwards and the game was played in an excellent attitude by both sides. It was noticeable that almost all of our tries were scored as team efforts, which is a credit to how well the boys have been responding to their coaches.

Filo was awarded our Man of the Match by the Crawley team and our best wishes go to Riley for a speedy recovery – we all hope to see him back charging down the wing after Christmas.

Report by M Walsh

Shoreham RFC

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