In the final league game of the season, the Brighton U15’s knew a bonus-point win against bottom-of-the-table Crowborough, with the help of the Haywards Heath result going our way, could secure a fourth place for the season. However, as the old saying goes - never judge a book by its cover, and any worries of complacency were well-founded, as Crowborough clearly had a different script in mind.

Brighton found themselves under the pump for the first 15 minutes, with Crowborough coming out with an intensity that belied their league position. We knew their forwards would be physical and direct, and so it proved, as they cut holes through our first eight with relative ease, forcing us into some desperate scramble defence. The game was being played between the 22’s, with Brighton struggling to gain a foot on proceedings, and the Crowborough’s pack, dominating the contact areas and recycling aplenty. Lucky for us, gain territory was short due to their repeated unforced errors.

The boys, however, weathered the early storm and, realising that this was shaping up to be Crowborough forwards vs. Brighton backs, pivoted more towards a kicking game. Using the wind behind them, Brighton combined cross-field kicks and chase line pressure to good effect, getting Crowborough turning and defending, and pinning them in their own half for extended periods of play.

The tactic paid off brilliantly as Brighton slowly started to shift the momentum, taking a hold of the game with four tries in quick succession. Fullback Milo Hunt, feeding off the low, driven cross-field kicks that targeted the spaces behind their centres and wingers, showed superb support play and electric pace to evade the Crowborough defence for a hat trick of scores. Outside centre Sam Beavers also touched down, as did galloping #8 Aidan Banks, to help create some calm in the Brighton ranks.

Crowborough, to their credit, never gave up and earned just deserts for their efforts as they scored in the corner with the last play of the first half.

HT Score: Brighton 30 Crowborough 5

Brighton carried the momentum into the second half, playing at a tempo that continued to stretch the Crowborough defence, but the visitors dogged defence, coupled with our own spate of unforced errors, saw the boys in blue literally take 2 steps forward, and three steps back, for a lot of the second half, as play started to become fractured and scrappy.

Fortunately for us, we were still managing to string together passages of play where the ball was being kept alive and moved about, with a line break through the middle of the park, followed by some silky hands, allowing tighthead prop George Haworth to add his name to the scoresheet. Winger Jude Porter capped off Brighton’s points for the day after another line break and an end-to-end try in the corner.

Crowborough, as they had done in the first half, finished the game strong and scored in the corner in the last minute, but a 36-15 win sealed the all-important bonus-point victory for the home team.

Certainly not a game for the ages, but definitely a gentle reminder that no team should ever be underestimated, and a lesson to be taken into next season. Crowborough may have finished at the foot of the table, but they played with heart and determination, making Brighton work for every inch.

Unfortunately for us, the Haywards Heath result did not swing our way, as they were beaten 13-12 by Chichester, bumping us down to a fifth place finish in the league, on 22 points - a remarkable achievement considering given where we were on the log in January.

FT Score: Brighton 42 Crowborough 15

TRIES:
Hunt (3), Beavers, Porter, Haworth, Banks
Conversions: Forsyth (2), Rees-Matthews