Picture special: Lewes RFC beat Horsham Barbarians to win league

Gus Taylor needed four points from this game versus the Horsham Barbarians to reach his hundred for the season, and it didn’t take him long to do it in one fell swoop as early in the game he dodged through the Horsham defence to score the first try of the match. Despite failing with the conversion, this early score settled Lewes nerves as the team were clearly adapting well to this type of pitch.

Lewes then began to go up a gear and enforce a period of domination, which resulted in a succession of penalties before Will Hoff went over for a try that was converted by Taylor to make the score 0-12. However, the boot was on the other foot as Horsham responded strongly and gained some penalties themselves before putting their winger over for a try in the corner.

Lewes’s backs were enjoying playing on this surface and they used the sunny conditions well to send Hoff in for his second try after a scintillating passing movement. Then it was over to the forwards as it was their turn to put pressure on the Horsham line. After a series of pack surges Fearghus Gage scored the all-important bonus point try, which was converted to take the score to 5-24.

Lewes weren’t finished with the first half scoring, though, for as half time approached they followed a try conceived by the brilliance of their backs and another caused by the physicality of their forwards with one that came from sheer dogged determination as Will Feltham went through to score despite a massive defensive effort from Horsham.

So it was 5-29 at half time, but Horsham were proving resilient and things did not go Lewes’ way at the second period began. Horsham pressure on the Lewes line led to a Lewes yellow card, and this was going to cost seven points as Horsham scored a goal. This was a set back and nerves were beginning to affect even the most dedicated Lewes supporters.

They needn’t have worried for there is a resolve in this Lewes side that took their game up to another level. Raff Green had been at the heart of most of the good attacking moves that Lewes put together and now, in the last quarter, he took the game by the scruff of the neck and collected a hat trick of tries that, with the last one being converted, left the final score at 12-46.

It was a great team effort though. In fact, it was a great squad effort, for the coaches are to be congratulated for the way in which they organised the replacements’ bench with the interchanges giving players the chance to take a well-earned breather in the sunny conditions.

The result means that we have won every match since the New Year, beating all the teams in our league. There has been an awful lot of hard work, and some disappointments before Christmas, but the enormous effort to turn the fortunes of the team around have been very much a team effort. In many ways, the task has only just begun.

The result gave us six points which was enough to take us to 64, thus overtaking Hove and Ditchling who both finished on 62. This was the last game of the season As the late, great Paul Rendall once said, “A good day to go top of the table.”

Lewes: Feltham; Littlewood, Green, Hoff, Moore: Taylor, Moule; Dadswell, Martin, Norman; Sale (captain), King; Weston, Pryor, Wythe. Replacements: Pye, Brown, Gage, Ozeren, Cross, Reid, Hutchings.