A bad day at the office, metaphorically!

For a third game in a row an early try conceded and a shutout summed up a bad day for Cinque Ports. Injuries and unavailability through work commitments meant that the Grove based St Leonards outfit fielded a side with an experimental look designed to cause problems with offensive ball, unfortunately their first job was to defend a probing run down the left flank which saw the Eastbourne winger slide in with only 40 seconds on the clock. Eastbourne run in another try ten minutes later to give them a 10-0 lead but this did seem to galvanise Cinque Ports. A strong defence held out Eastbourne and with the ball in hand Steve Crump and Mick Berry made crashing runs into the Eastbourne defence, one run from Crump leading to a succession of penalties but the Cinque Ports forwards could not penetrate the Eastbourne line. CPR were within a few feet of scoring. Cinque Ports did perform well in the line out, Carl Malthouse leaping well and disrupting Eastbourne ball but a series of failures in the scrummage meant that limited ball could be released to the backs. CPR were always on the back foot defending the lost balls. The second half saw more of the same, and an efficient Eastbourne side pounced on poor passes and run in another four tries, converting three. This does paint an inaccurate story in some regards Craig Barningham and Barry Simon did come close to breaking the Eastbourne try line when CPR were camped near to the goal posts for several minutes. Christiaan Brandt and Luke Price both had good opportunities but excellent defensive tackles prevented them from gliding home for deserved scores. Gavin Sams at full back had some exciting runs from deep in defence. The lack of a cutting edge was the main cause of Cinque Ports downfall but Coach Bill Langley and team manager Gavin Thomas are confident this will be solved in time for the local derby away against Hastings and Bexhill next Saturday. "We tried to make changes to provide a more dynamic element to the side, that didn't work and I have to take responsibility for that- we know what needs to be done and we'll be prepared for the next game" said Gavin Thomas. Bill Langley added "We were unfortunate to run into a very inform Eastbourne XV when we were lacking some key players." Steve Crump was named man of the match for a fine display in both attack and defence .

Team: Doorey, Wright (Thomas), Berry, Dedman, Amar, Malthouse, Crump, Barningham, Eastwood (Parker), Salmon, L Price,  Swift (Langley), Brandt, Simon, Sams