East versus West clash ends in close defeat

Cinque Ports Rugby 21 Horley RFC 24 (HT 14- 10)

This friendly game brought together Cinque Ports currently second in Sussex 3 East and the current leaders of Sussex 3 West- Horley RFC to the Grove School. As should be expected from two high flying sides the game was closely fought for eighty minutes by both sides. Horley made the long journey from their Surrey ground with depleted numbers so they fielded a few Cinque Ports players also, this did not affect the intensity and the game began with both sides showing a very physical approach. Horley's powerful back row was very effective in recycling the ball but they were matched by a front row of Tony Lawlor, Che Donald and Mark Wright who destroyed the visiting sides scrum continually.

Lawlor and Donald also caused mayhem in the loose, both men requiring two or three tacklers to stop them. Despite this it was Horley who drew first blood, good work at the breakdown allowing them some space to run over in the corner. Cinque Ports reacted well to this, realising the danger was in the Horley back row they played a very open game. Captain Paul Smart orchestrating from outside half, aided and abetted by the ever teasing Greg Stokes providing a second creative fulcrum at inside centre. They combined to allow Mike Dangerfield playing out of position at outside centre to sprint through a gap in the opposition and score under the posts for his fifth try in four games. Smart converted without any difficulty. Cinque Ports had the opportunities to take control- wingers Steve Weale and Lloyd Barthropp both coming close- with Che Donald also marauding towards the corner before being scrambled desperately into touch.

Despite this Horley again utilised their back row to score. Horley seemed camped on the Cinque Ports line before an excellent clearing kick from Greg Stokes allowed Lloyd Barthropp to break clear and scoop up a difficult bouncing ball to score his first try for Cinque Ports. In the second half despite still dominating the scrums CPR found it very difficult to gain advantage. Horley dominated the line out and the fringes and this is where the game was won. The Horley back row connected well with their sniping scrum half and they combined to score another two tries in the second half.

CPR were always in the game though, a good counter attacking run from Carl Malthouse saw him release the ball to Barthropp in space and the young winger finished well for his second try. Paul Smart kicked his third conversion. Cinque Ports did have a number of scoring opportunities; Rob Fink found space on a number of occasions and Smart and Stokes kept finding gaps and space. With the clock run out CPR had a penalty near the opposition goal, but instead of striking the kick and taking the draw Smart sought out Stokes and he couldn't wriggle through. At the final whistle Paul Smart observed that "They didn't win this game, we lost it". Manager Gavin Thomas also placed the result in context " Scratch Team or not Horley are an excellent outfit who have scored a 160 points and conceded 5 in league games- they beat us by three points, I think this result shows we are a side with the capability to score points almost at will". Many Cinque Ports players were impressive; Tony Lawlor was a rock as was Che Donald. Greg Stokes defensive skills were of the highest calibre and Lloyd Barthropp belied the fact that this was his fourth game of Rugby. Coach Bill Langley also picked out veteran second row Bob Earle for his effort throughout the game, “The ball is always safe in his hands”, he observed.

Game highlights including individual preformances from
L. Barthropp (2nd from left) and R. Fink (3rd from left),
click to view larger photo.

Team: Lawlor, Donald, Wright, Earle (Perry), Parker, Dedman, Giles, Barningham, Eastwood, Smart, Barthropp, Stokes, Dangerfield, Weale (Fink), Malthouse

CPR returns to the Sussex Bishops Finger league action with a top of the table clash against Heathfield & Waldron IV (Boars) XV 10th October. KO 3.00pm. This will be a good test for the team as they seek to maintain their league table placing.