22/02/10 v Brighton

Observer article 19/2/10 - courtesy Hastings Observer

Roberts wants to see show of confidence:

Roger Roberts has urged Hastings & Bexhill to play with confidence ahead of a massive test in their survival battle tomorrow (Saturday). The rugby club will be huge underdogs away to a second-placed Brighton side which has won 10 successive London Three South East matches.

Roberts, H&B's captain, said: "We've just got to go out and play with confidence and play with our heads up. We've proved to ourselves if we go out and play with confidence we're a good side and well deserve to be in this league. It's when we let our heads drop the team we're playing takes advantage."

H&B are fourth-from-bottom having lost 11 of their 14 games so far, but can draw heart from a decent display despite losing 33-10 in the reverse fixture on January 2.

As well as beating H&B first time around, Brighton's run has included becoming the only team to defeat leaders Heathfield & Waldron and a 62-0 rout of Park House on Saturday.

The skipper, who still hopes to lead the team out before the end of the season as he continues his long rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, says availability is good.

But Richard Brooks is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign after undergoing an operation to reset some ligaments in his hand.

Last weekend's game at home to Horsham was postponed due to snow/ice on the pitch at William Parker Sports College - one of three in the division to be called-off.

A re-arranged date has yet to be fixed and finding a mutually convenient time looks to be a problem as a result of the weather-related fixture backlog.

The season has been extended by a week in a bid to cope with the backlog, but Horsham have already been allocated a match on April 17.

H&B have withdrawn from the Sussex Trophy. Their first round tie at home to Bognor was due to have been played by November 21.

HASTINGS & BEXHILL 6   BRIGHTON 71

PLAYING the two top teams in the league away in successive weekends was always unlikely to provide the breakthrough in their fortunes H&B are struggling to achieve, and sure enough after being pounded by Heathfield’s efficiency last week, they were dismantled by Brighton’s flair on Saturday.

In the home fixture they surprised the fast-developing Brighton side with their attacking ambition; this time the hosts knew what to expect and countered it with ease. Whereas at Heathfield H&B had defended hugely, but been inhibited in attack, at Brighton their youthful backline attacked with purpose and structure but looked flimsy in defence. The common theme was that while H&B enjoyed their share of possession and position, both opponents’ defences coped comfortably with everything thrown at them, repeatedly turning over attacking ball at the breakdown and counter-attacking with clinical skill to score devastating long range tries.

Against both teams H&B failed to win fast ball at the set-piece, both scrum and lineout getting turned over a number of times, though they did have their successes too. Once again they were cruelly exposed at the breakdown, their ball carrier too often turned over in the tackle for lack of quick or decisive enough support. And even their rolling maul, which had some success, lacked the final precision to get H&B on the front foot. Thus, in a game that was by no means all one-way traffic, H&B created from scraps a handful of very real scoring chances close to Brighton’s line which they couldn’t quite force home, while the hosts showed how it should be done virtually every time they got good possession.

On a bright but bitterly cold afternoon, Brighton got off to the perfect start, winning the ball from their own kick-off, and with two quick recycles scything their way under the posts for a 7-0 lead.

After an untidy five minutes by both sides, H&B hit back with a Paul Sandeman penalty. Encouraged, H&B started running the ball with some success, and some good handling took them from one 22 to the other, but the ball was turned over, and Brighton struck back ruthlessly through their impressive backline with a second converted try under the posts.

And so the pattern was set, the score inexorably clocking up through the first half, largely by skilfully executed counter-attacks, with the odd clinical maul thrown in. As usual, H&B produced plenty of brave individual tackling, not least by man-of-the-match Ben Campbell who turned up everywhere to haul down potential try-scorers, and the defence kept good shape, but there were too many tackles missed - to some measure a result of H&B’s sluggishly muddy training facilities failing to prepare players for faster surfaces and quicker opponents.

A second Sandeman penalty on the stroke of half-time left the score 38-6.

All three substitutes started the second half, including newly signed 22-year-old back three player Tom Muskett who represented the host nation in the Dubai Sevens last December and who showed some real quality in a testing debut.

The pattern of play remained similar to the first half - H&B competing aggressively, posing plenty of potential threats, but always well-contained by the superior all-round abilities of their opponents. The tries continued to mount, as Brighton remained focused and ambitious, and H&B to their credit never considered the option of trying to keep the score down, instead attacking at every opportunity.

As a scoreline, the result was predictably damaging. As a performance, it provided what the coaches had asked for - a shape and platform from which to construct some winning performances over the coming weeks, against some of the less daunting sides in London Three.

H&B: Roche (Clifford), Davies, Spatchurst, Adams, Sheppard, Piotrowski, Sandeman, Cullingfors, P Claughton (c), K Claughton, Stinson, Diedericks, Hollingsworth (Lee), Campbell, Steadman (Muskett).