Eastbourne RFC overcome Seaford to reach Sussex Cup semis
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Eastbourne had beaten Seaford in both league fixtures amassing over 130 points. Therefore the fear for the coaches was complacency and over-confidence creeping in to the young squad.
That is was exactly what happened. Seaford chose to put Eastbourne on their junior-sized pitch, which was very frustrating as it stopped Eastbourne playing their exciting brand of wide running rugby, based on good handling, speed and fitness.
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Hide AdHowever, it a wise move by the hosts as it suited their hard straight one-out running rugby and the pick and go from the base of the ruck.
Eastbourne dominated the set piece with excellent work from the front five, both in the lineout and scrum.
Jake Howe scored a penalty for the first points of the game. Eastbourne could not get a foothold in the game as Seaford kept the ball for long spells with the pick and go and the one out passing rugby, proving useful and effective tools in the conditions.
This led to the first try on 11 minutes. But Eastbourne responded with a well-worked try, seeing Ollie Horley power over for his try and Jake Howe kicking the conversion to lead 5-10.
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Hide AdEastbourne, gave some silly penalties away, which led to Seaford scoring and converting to take the lead. 12-10.
The excellent, powerful Jeremy Montes playing out of position at six scored a well-deserved try and handed off multiple players to score, with Howe kicking the conversion to lead 12-17.
Montes was yellow carded for stealing two excellent balls at the breakdown in quick succession, both deemed illegal by the referee. Both sides would have been aggrieved by the management of the breakdown, as it was refereed with little consistency.
The yellow card gave Seaford the opportunity to kick a penalty and bring the game within two points at half time. The second half was much the same with Eastbourne desperately trying to play positively, but being well tackled and frustrated by a fired up Seaford.
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Hide AdAfter some dominant scrums, the quick thinking and quick footed Harrison Gibbons scored a sniping try in the corner to retake the lead, 15-22.
After some excellent carrying from Seaford, they managed to deservedly cross again and kicked the conversion to tie the game at 22-22.
This led to a very edgy phase of the game, with Martial Chaput managing to gather a loose ball and run in from 40m. This was an easy conversion for Howe to put Eastbourne a try and conversion clear.
With Eastbourne now showing inexperience, they gave Seaford multiple chances to win the game, with penalties and poor decisions a plenty in the final 10 minutes.
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Hide AdLuckily for Eastbourne, Seaford poorly executed the final lineout, which resulted in a very hard fought win for Eastbourne.
Eastbourne did not adapt to the pitch or conditions, they also did not take into account that two massive wins in the league mean nothing on cup days. However the young charlatans got the win and progress to the semi-final against undefeated league champions East Grinstead.
Special mentions go to Eastbourne’s back row of Thompson, Montes and particularly Ryan Shields, who put in another fine tackling masterclass from No7.
Alun Cranch was promoted to the front side at prop and he played superbly showing real dominance in the scrum and even some good carryies.
MoM was in the end was decided by the captain and given to Ben Perrott, playing inside centre, who played extremely well in attack and led the defensive line beautifully.