It’s men against Old Boys for Horsham … Blues beaten at Beckenham

Horsham started quickly and scored their first try of the afternoon, after five minutes, with a trademark Joe Wilde interception.

He moved the ball to Declan Nwachukwu, who scored his 12th try of the season, and Tom Johnson converted.

Horsham's faithful didn't have to wait long for try number two – from a driving maul Charles Newey scored from a well-organised play.

Horsham were in dominant form and were rewarded from another driving maul try. This time the beneficiary was tight-head Dan Cass, who crashed over.

The Green Army were in full flow and from a set play Nwachukwu broke clean through and offloaded to the supporting Joe Blake to score under the posts and secure the bonus point. Johnson added the extras.

The Horsham set-piece was in control and from a 5m scrum Andy Gray scored from a pushover try. It was converted by Johnson.

The final score of the first half was a team try. After a strong scrum and carry, the ball was moved wide for Marcus Condon to score.

At half-time Horsham lead 36-0.

KCS scored the first try of the second half with a well-worked passage of play, which was converted.

But Horsham bounced back with a try from the in-form Joe Wilde, who scored after a well-executed backs move.

KCS scored their second converted try after another well-orchestrated move.

Horsham's final two tries came from the in-form Aaron Linfield, both from snipes around the base of the breakdown and both converted by Oli Chennell.

A happy Horsham head of rugby Nick Stocker said: “We wanted to start well having been frustrated with that aspect of our play in recent weeks.

"With KCS a dangerous side, this was even more important.

"What followed was arguably our best start to a game so far and to date our most controlled and balanced performance in the league.

"Our set-piece functioned very well with our lineout in particular granting a great platform to launch a variety of attacks from.

"Coupled with a dominant scrum, we dominated possession and played the conditions very effectively as a result.

"Granted field position and possession, our backs stretched play well and ultimately closed out the game comfortably.

“With a number of excellent performances across the squad, where Tom Johnson's kicking game and Adam Clarkson and Rich Tredgett's lineout work all stood out, we settled on Kyle Fairs as our MoM given his excellent display at hooker, where his set piece work was matched with real physicality around the park.”

This week Horsham face Gravesend at home in a fixture not played for a few seasons – and the Kent side have been going well in the league.

All support welcome.

Beckenham 27 Chichester 13

Regional two south east

The long and frustrating coach journey to Kent signalled a possible bleak afternoon for Blues on the pitch. And so it proved.

After a great win against Gravesend last week, the fire had disappeared and their tough and cohesive hosts won comfortably by four tries, two conversions and a penalty to a try, a conversion and two penalties.

Chi are plagued by injuries, including several players on concussion leave. There had already been three forced changes when a late cry-off meant head coach Ken Dowding was obliged to be on the bench. He was to play for 30 minutes.

The rain had ceased and Chi kicked off under a leaden sky. For 20 minutes there was disjointed probing and infringements which led to several kicks to touch and inconclusive lineouts. Becks did have a high jumper who later asserted his authority.

Chi eventually attacked and after a Thompson run, Becks went offside. Norton kicked the penalty from 20m in front, 3-0 after 19 minutes.

Margarson stopped the Becks openside flanker with a crunching tackle before their No8 linked with his backs to put a man through in the centre for the first try after 30 minutes, converted, 3-7.

Five minutes later Becks were held up along the left wing but moved the ball smoothly to the right and found another gap to touch down. Converted, 3-14.The Blues pack had parity with big opponents and won a scrum penalty, kicked by Norton. But soon after, again with their playmaker No8 helping, Becks handled securely to the right and penetrated for their third try. Conversion missed, 6-19 at half-time.

After a kick and chase by Becks, Chi touched down behind their try line. Sadly the kick out went straight to the enemy and it was gratefully accepted 30m out and run back. Chi infringed and the penalty made it 6-22.

By now, although the lineout was mostly controlled by Becks, Blues did start to attack and worked some promising phases without reward. After a high up and under by Norton, they won a penalty and opted for a scrum.

They won it and pressed to the left corner. However, they were repelled and Becks cleared with a long touch kick. Blues were intercepted and Becks ran directly to the right corner for their bonus-point try. Conversion missed, 6-27.Chi drove in four phases before finally hooker Ives pressed down over the line. Converted by Norton, 13-27. Thompson had moved from fly half to centre and Knight came on and showed good hands but it was too late for anything except consolation. Tyrese Makasi was Chi’s most impressive player.Blues are ninth out of 12 in this challenging league. They must learn how to win away games. Hopefully the returning injured will make a difference, but what is needed is a real determination that there will be some success on the road.

On Saturday (2.30pm) Chi are at home to Old Colfeians. Maximum support welcome.