14th February 2026 – Old Colfeians vs Horsham
Old Colfe’s kicked off the game, playing into the sun for the first half. The opening 10 minutes of the game were spent inthe opposition half with multiple penalties and freekicks, coupled with a few handling errors from both teams. It was apparent Horsham wanted to try and play their way out of their half, something they would stick to throughout the game.
14 minutes in, Captain Jack Griffith received a high shot withno arms. Arguably lucky to receive just a yellow, the opposition player began walking off before the referee had removed the card from his pocket.
A set piece knock on following the resulting lineout, led to a Horsham line break, thwarted by a forward pass. The result, a scrum back in-line with the previous high tackle penalty. A couple more infringements later saw OC’s 5 metres out with a lineout once more. Despite an attempt to collapse the maul off the lineout, the forwards set well and Dele was quick to spot the space, picking blind for the first points of the game nearly 20 minutes in. A tough missed conversion, 0-5.
It didn’t take long for Horsham to reply, less than 5 minutes later and they had their first try. An uncharacteristic overthrown lineout off an OC’s penalty,saw Horsham play 3 quick phases, beating OC’s round the corner. An early bite in defence led to a break down the wing, an impressive pick-up off a loose offload resulted in the converted try. 7-5.
Shortly after, back in the opposition half, a loose pass off a set piece strike move was cleaned up and followed by Horsham’s 6th penalty in just 25 minutes. In an almost identical position, it was Leo Cunningham this time, peeling off the open side of the maul, beating the first defender and carrying two overwith him for OC’s second try of the game. Slightly closer in from the touchline, the conversion was good and OC’s took back the lead. 7–12.
A Horsham player accidentally running into the refereeresulted in a scrum, putting them 15 metres in on Colfeians’10-metre line with a free shot at a set piece attack. Running a similar move to their previous try off the lineout, Horsham took both our centres out of the game with a strong carry off 10 and were quick around the corner. This time their blindside winger was able to pick through the holes in the defence with an arcing run to score in the corner with less than 10 minutes to go in the half. 12-12.
A strong kick return off the kick off put Horsham back in OC’s half once more. Despite some good clearance kicks,the pressure was still on. Once again Horsham did a good job keeping players on their feet and getting round the corner. With an 8 on 5 overlap, it was a short shoulder-line off first receiver that put the 12 through, he managed to get the ball away to their winger for his second try of the match just before the end of the half. 17-12.
The second half got off to a slow steady start, much like the start of the first. OC’s received the kick-off this time and worked their way to a lineout 10 metres out after 7 minutes, but nothing came of it.
After a back and forth it would be Horsham to score once again. An uncontested box kick led to a midfield break on the halfway line from Horsham’s danger man. The winger then continued to finish the try off, picking from the back of the consequent breakdown and putting it down in the corner for his third. 22-12.
The momentum was now rolling for Horsham, they responded with another try born from a line break and a penalty, this time scoring in the opposite corner 27-12.
The next 20 minutes saw compounding errors from both teams but panicked handling cost OC’s, who couldn’t leave their half for the remainder of the game. An unfortunate injury to Tom Walker, who had been putting in a strong performance all game, brought a 5-minute stop to the messy game.
After the break in play, it was Horsham who continued to best OC’s for overall energy. A yellow card took Colfeians down to 14 and Horsham continued to utilise their man advantage well, scoring two tries within quick succession in the dying minutes of the game.
A high error rate resulted in a scoreless second half for OC’s. That being said, there were still some strong individual performances. Notably, Victor Spaczil taking Trevor home for a strong defensive performance and an all-round unwavering effort. FHO impressively managed to receive both the opposition’s MOTM as well as DOTD, following a valiant effort seeing off two pints and somehow beating an opposition player with just the one.
Final score Horsham 37, Old Colfeian’s 12.
