Horsham Ladies get historic home victory despite serious injury

The teams were playing on the artificial AGP surface for the first time, however the game wouldn’t be completed on this pitch after the injury suffered early in the second half.

As a result of the injury, the teams had to eventually move onto the grass pitch next door in order to continue the game.

At the beginning of the game, a youthful Farnham team ran at the Horsham line with plenty of pace and showed a lot of power when trying to move the ball and break the Horsham defensive line.

This early pressure didn’t last too long, as the home side began to take control of the game and push Farnham further back the pitch.

After some heroic Horsham defensive cover and several minutes of more exchanges around the halfway line, Horsham started to apply more pressure to the Falcons, eventually scoring a try through the quick passing of scrum half Jo Thomas and the pace of Charlie Clarke, arching away from three Farnham quarters to sprint home from over 50 meters.

An excellent kick followed from wide on the left followed by Kate Leyshon, converting to give Horsham a 7-0 lead.

Just three minutes later against the run of play, Farnham stole the ball on half-way and after going through three phases, broke free and crossed the Horsham try line.

Horsham Ladies kicked on in the remainder of the first half, applying strong pressure and maintaining possession but with no real end product and the first half ended 7-5.

At the start of the second half, Horsham’s number eight experienced a serious injury after just five minutes, which resulted in the game being stopped for over ten minutes time and the teams having to move over to the poorly conditioned grass pitch.

The change in venue meant that the conditions were worse and both sides struggled in the second period. With no floodlights visibility decreased as the game went on making it harder for the teams to play.

Horsham’s forwards were resilient and strong in the scrum, not allowing the Farnham players to push through.

The same could be said for their backs, who proved more than a match for their Farnham counterparts with some excellent tackling and defensive work.

Much of the rest of game was played in the Horsham half, however the home side defended well and despite the poor conditions, managing to hold on to their lead and secure their first home win of their debut season.

The final score was Horsham Ladies 7-5 Farnham Falcons.