Chichester make it two in a row – Haywards Heath top pile – Shoreham too strong for Burgess Hill

Reading 13 Chichester 22

Regional 2 South Central

Chichester won when they travelled to Reading for their first ever game against them.

They arrived at a pleasant ground at Sonning in heavy rain with thick cloud cover. But the hosts made Chi very welcome and by the end of the match Chi had gained their second successive win.

The Blues emerged in their change strip and with four changes from their last starting XV.

Alex Einchcomb was at loose head prop, Zac Conley returned from injury at lock, George Prentice made his debut at fly half and Ollie Horne came in on the right wing.

A vacancy on the bench was filled by the ageless and ever-loyal Ben Polhill after diverting from a journey he was making in another direction.

Reading kicked off on a good pitch but the persistent rain was to make handling difficult. Josh Stops at scrum half announced his presence with a high kick.

Chi moved the ball towards the left corner. They sent it out to winger Joel Andrews, who evaded an attempted tackle and rounded halfway to the posts to dot down. Converted by Margarson.

Possession was shared for 15 minutes in which time the referee had pinged Chi five times,the last of which resulted in a yellow card and the penalty, converted for 7-3.

Stops made a sharp break but it was not carried on. Another Chi player had a yellow card brandished, Chi down to 13 and the penalty made it 7-6.

A big kick down the pitch by Rhys Thompson went dead before anyone could fall on it. After 35 minutes,following a lineout catch and give by Conley, The Chi pack mauled powerfully to the try line and Shopland pressed down, converted by Margarson, 14-6.

Five minutes later another lineout and drive released the backs. Smooth transfer to the right wing gave Horne space to make ground and the inside offload to the supporting Margarson gave him the try which was not converted – so it was 19-6 at the break.

Captain Richard Ives had been troubled by an injury and the front row had to be reorganised. Callum Redding came in at loose head, Polhill at hooker and Shopland moved to tight head.

Reading began to test the Chi defence but full back Ash Goodwin relieved pressure with a sprint along the touchline.

There was an ‘exchange of handbags’ and both captains were lectured. A third yellow card for Chi was the result.

The Chi scrum was tiring and from 15 metres the Reading pack drove them backwards, a flanker picking up at the rear and plunging across to score, converted ,19-13.

Then Chi advanced to the Reading red zone and a scrum offence resulted in a straightforward penalty kick giving Margarson another and final flourish. 22-13 ,and four league points for the lads from Sussex.

Chi must now also look to win the next game, at home to Wimborne on November 4, to build confidence. They might usefully review their discipline too.

ROGER GOULD

Haywards Heath 44 Seaford 0

Counties 2 Sussex

An early season fixture break meant this was Heath's first game for three weeks but there was no ring rust in evidence as the squad put on an impressive display at Whitemans Green.

After weathering early Seaford pressure as the visiting forwards looked to rumble up the pitch, Heath took control.

As the ball was moved wide outside centre Henry Verbi cut a hard line back through the defence for the first score. Tom Wharton converted for 7-0.

A number of high tackles from the visitors meant Heath regularly made good ground as a result of the ensuing penalty and when on 25 minutes Seaford transgressed again, Wharton stepped up to take the points – 10-0.

Heath possession on halfway saw the ball moved down the line where an acrobatic pass through his legs from inside centre Christian Streeter saw space out wide for debutant colt winger Ollie Simpson to beat the first defender then kick through and outpace the cover to slide over for his first senior try – 15-0.

From the restart Heath were back into Seaford territory but knocked on meaning a scrum to the visitors. An immense effort from the pack took the ball against the head and the forwards crashed up the pitch before Elliott Higgin burst through from 15 metres to score on the stroke of half-time. Wharton converted for 22-0.

Heath kept their foot on the gas in the second half and were on the board again with MoM Otto Serjeant capping a fine individual performance by powering through tacklers to score in the corner for 27-0 and the bonus point try.

Another penalty to Heath saw them kick to the corner, win the lineout and move it wide, recycle it and then spin back for Simpson to beat defenders on the outside and mark his debut with his second try of the day.

Jamie Thurston burst through the line, ignored the overlap and outstripped the defence to dive in for a score converted by Wharton for 39-0.

Soon skipper Wilf Bridges broke off the back of a scrum and bulldozed over for 44-0.

This sees them at the top of the Counties 2 Sussex division after four games.

Shoreham 43 Burgess Hill 12

Counties 2 Sussex

The sideways rain that had been battering Adur on and off in the morning leading up to kick off gave its last downpour five minutes before kick-off, giving way to lovely October sunshine which suited the expansive game of rugby that unfolded between Shoreham and Burgess Hill at Buckingham Park.

The game started strongly for the Shoreham pack, with scrum dominance which continued throughout the day allowing Shoreham to dominate early possession. The front-row combination of the experienced props Daryn Clarke and newly married Mick Shaw alongside young hooker Noah Rudge giving Shoreham an excellent platform to build off.

Two early tries from stand in captain and second-row Dan Adams and a third through some expansive wing play from Calum Erskine, all converted by flyhalf Toby, allowed Shoreham to build a convincing lead in the first quarter of the game.

The Shoreham fly-half’s strong kicking off the tee was also matched with phenomenal kicking from hand. Some successful 50-22 attempts alongside excellent lineout work by the Shoreham pack, particularly some great throwing in from the hooker Noah, allowed Shoreham to dominate territory throughout the game.

Toby then ran in the 4th try himself which, alongside another converted Shoreham score, put Shoreham into a commanding halftime lead of 33-5 as Burgess Hill pulled a try back with the last play of the half.

The second half saw the scoring tighten up greatly, with just a converted try a piece, which, alongside a Shoreham penalty were the only scores in the second half and the game finished 43-12.

Man of the match was Shoreham second row Josh Avis for some excellent work all around the park, particularly his exceptional work rate in defence.