The Best Performance of the Season so far...

Haslemere played down the slope in the first half and for most of it they played in the Worth half.

Haslemere were inches from getting on the score sheet after 10 minutes when a poor sliced clearance from the Worth fly half went right to the other side of the pitch and slightly backwards. The ball was won by Haslemere and winger Damien Cumber outran his opposite man but put his foot in touch on the 5 metres when rounding the full back. Worth were unable to clear the ball far and at the next line out flanker Dave Head caught hooker Ryan Perrott’s exocet throw and the rest of the forwards drove downhill, but the ball was then lost in the next ruck metres from the line.

After 20 minutes prop Stuart Ephgrave took a breather with veteran stalwart Alan Kiley coming on. Another Haslemere line out on the Worth 22 was caught in the middle of the line by Shane Vickery. Converted scrum half James Clark found fly half Jonjo Conway who ran a dummy switch and then another dummy before then off loading in the tackle to full back Adam Whitehead who drew his man before releasing Damien Cumber who this time found the space to score in the corner, 5-0.

Shortly after this Vickery was lost to a knee injury and on came Dan Green. Despite winning the ball again at the line out Haslemere lost the ball in the ruck and Worth had a scrum attacking the Haslemere line 5 metres out. Haslemere won the ball against the head with Ryan swiftly hooking the ball back to Haslemere’s side which then saw a rampaging run from no8 Damian Kellerman to take the team back into the Worth half.

Just after the half hour Haslemere went down to 14 men when James Clarke was yellow carded for not using his arms in a tackle. Despite being a man down Haslemere kept playing attacking rugby and this time from a line out win Conway found centre JP McCumisky as he broke straight through the middle, but the Worth cover tackling was good. With the half running out Conway went off injured to be replaced by Callum Sherwood.
The second half started with Harry Crabtree coming off and George Andrews onto the wing, and Vickery restored after his 10 minute break. Now the pressure was on Haslemere to continually get out of their 22 and work their way up the slope. Early position was with Worth but good tackling from James Clarke and cover across the pitch by Whitehead kept them out.

After 10 minutes another defensive scrum was won against the head by Ryan’s quick striking and Callum picked the ball up and set off on a mazy run to relieve the pressure.
On a quarter of an hour a Haslemere line out on the half way was again won with a clean catch that set up centre Tim Salm for a direct run through tackles and then an offload to prop Zorro Hawkes but Haslemere were then penalized for holding on in the ruck.

Midway through the half Haslemere were attacking the Worth line, but Worth were awarded a penalty 10 metres out from their own line, and a quick tap and go saw their fly half run the ball through a gap and all the way back into the Haslemere 22 before cover tackling from Whitehead and Andrews saw them halted, giving the rest of the team time to get back and form a line. Soon after a strong scrum saw scrum half Sherwood release Damian Cumber down the line before then linking up with McCumisky but the ball was then lost.

After 25 minutes Haslemere had a gilt edged chance to score when Ross Taylor broke through the opposition line and was in clear space only for a last ditched diving tap tackle to take him down short of the line.
Even in the last 10 minutes the intensity of the match did not let up. Worth were in good field position again after a pick and drive by their forwards followed by a kick to the corner put Haslemere close to their line. From the line out Haslemere won the ball and rucked then when trying to move further up the field and out of the 22, a loose pass was hacked on by the Worth winger and he scored under the posts, and with an easy conversion Haslemere were 5-7 down.

From the kick off Haslemere tried to work their way up the field and play in the Worth half. With just three minutes to go Worth lost a player to a yellow card. From a ruck the ball was passed to Dave Head and he burst up the field with only clear grass in front of him, but again a last effort tap tackle brought him down. Moments later 5 metres from the line Haslemere were awarded a penalty and they ran the ball but Worth’s defense was strong and they won the ball back only to kick it dead for a Haslemere scrum back on the 5. With the last play of the game Haslemere battled to score but fell just short. Haslemere 5-7 Worth.

A great game from Haslemere which was “the best performance of the season” from Club Coach John Hatcher, against a mid table Surrey 3 team.

Team: Hawkes, Perrott, Ephgrave, Head, McGrory C, Powell S, Vickery, Kellerman, Clarke, Conway, Cumber, McCumisky, Salm, Crabtree, Whitehead. Replacements: Andrews, Taylor, Sherwood, Kiley, Green.