Horsham survive in dramatic fashion
Horsham 21 Havant 19 Regional 1 South Central
Horsham completed a great escape by winning their last two league games to remain at level five in the National League structure, the club’s highest ever in their long history.
It had to be secured the hard way against league champions Havant in the final game of the season.
The bottom two clubs across all the leagues in the country would usually be relegated but Horsham were granted a possible reprieve due to the demise of Jersey from the Championship earlier in the season.
Due to the trickle-down effect the side that finished second-to-bottom with the best record nationally would survive. Horsham had one of the best records but would still need to accumulate more points than both Bournemouth and Doncaster, and with these sides losing this duly happened.
But there were some nailbiting moments after the final whistle waiting for the results to come through from around the country before a loud cheer in the clubhouse was heard.
Horsham’s points came from Alex Mannhardt with a hat-trick of tries including the try of season from the backs in a first phase attack following a scrum deep in their own half.
Oli Chennell added a penalty and Henry Warwick slotted the high pressure kick to see Horsham regain the lead with seven minutes remaining on the clock and see out the historic win.
A clearly delighted Horsham head coach Nick Stocker – whose comments about the great escape are on the back
page, said of this final-game win: “Performance wise the five back row forwards selected were monumental with Jordan Smith’s huge hit on their key ball carrier early doors setting the tone.
"Vince Everitt and Tyrese Makasi were relentless throughout and justifiably shared the MoM award run close by Owain McLaughlin playing in the back row.
"The front row of Charles Newey, Josh Earle and Joe Woods put in an outstanding 80 minute shift and the try on the stroke of half-time was
just reward for their graft at scrum time all afternoon.
“In the backs, the cohesion in defence was excellent limiting a useful set of backs to sporadic forays. Max Greatwood’s try saving tackle as Havant desperately sought to win the game in the last three minutes was of huge significance and demonstrated the defensive hunger throughout.
"In attack, we looked dangerous and the try on the stroke of half-time where all the backs ran beautiful lines to cut Havant to shreds was a thing of beauty!
“What this means of course is that due to the Jersey reprieve announced by the RFU, Horsham fight another day in Regional 1 and the performances over recent weeks will give great confidence ahead of next season, especially knowing the big players we have coming back from injury and the lessons learned in this league. The focus turns to the Lions Sussex cup final and beyond towards a deserved rest where the debrief and planning will continue at pace.”