Thefirstfewminutesgaveahintof whatwastocomeinthebacksfor bothattackanddefence.EGcreated a good opportunity on the outside whichprobablywouldhaveresulted inatryifthefinalpasshadgoneto hand.WhenEastbournehadasimilar opportunitythedefencedriftedwell andcoveredthethreat.
Penaltiesdictatedmuchofthefirst half. The first points went to Eastbournefromapenaltyforahigh tacklebeforeG’smissedalong-range kickinreturn.Amuch-improvedline speed (possibly because I watched the Veo on 2x speed) meant Eastbourne made little ground with ballinhandbutrepeatedpenalties allowedthemtosetupamaulinthe corner,whichdraggedinthedefence andallowedthemtoscoreoutwide.
AnotherimprovedfeatureofG’splay wastheirreactiontolinebreaks.The scramblebackwasmuchbetterand thedefensivelineresetquicklyafter poordefencearoundtheruckallowed the scrum half through. More penalties ensued, however, and EG went14-3down.
The first half ended much more positively.Strongcarriesbythelikes of Max Crawley-Moore and Ryland ThomassetupOliBillintogiveacutoutpasstoJakeRadcliffewhoscored in the corner. Soon after, great ball retentionintheopposition22brought EGclosetothelineagainandallowed NoahRobertstosalmonoverthetop oftheruckfortrynumbertwo.There couldhavebeenathirdbeforehalf time but EG settled for the consolation of a simple 3 points to taketheleadattheinterval14-16.
Eastbourne’sfrustrationstartedgettingthe betterofthem.Apenaltyforshoutingatthe refallowedEGtoturndefenceintoattack. Therollingmauldraggedinplayersandslick interplaybetweenthebacksledtooneofthe best team tries you’ll see this year, Ted Hardisty’s dummy and offload giving Ali Moffatthechancetofinishinthecornerand agreatconversionfromOliaddedtwomore tomakeit14-26.
Twomistakesisallittookforthatgoodwork to be undone as a knock-on gave away possessionandamissedtacklearoundthe ruckallowedEastbournestraightbackinto thecontest.Anothercontenderfortryofthe seasonsoonfollowedasgreatfootworkfrom TedandfantastichandsfromNoahsetup Jake to make another 50 yards before offloading to Dan then Ben Tottman who scoredoutwide,butsoonafterwasgivena yellow card for a high tackle. Eastbourne capitalisedontheirextramaninthescrumto givethempossessionandpenalties,oneof whichwastakenquicklyandatrywasscored.
Reinstated to 15 men, Eastbourne couldn’t cope with relentless G’s pressureandwereluckynottohavea playeroftheirowninthebinasthey gave away lots of red zone penalties whicheventuallyresultedinanothertry formanofthematchJakeinthecorner.
EG have been on the wrong side of narrowscorelinesthisseasonsoevenat 26-36 there were nerves which were compounded by errors at the lineout givingawaytheball.Thegameended withatryforEastbournewhichearned themtwobonuspoint,butjobwasdone fromEastGrinstead’sperspectivewitha 33-36 bonus point win on the road against their rivals getting the season backontrack.
The performance turnaround started againstTwickenhambutwasconverted intopointstodayandthere’safeeling aroundthesquadthatthisisasideon theup.Theywillneedtobeattheirbest whentopofthetableTrinityvisitnext week.
WesetofftotheChannelIslands,atavery darkandearly4:30am,onSaturdayforour muchanticipatedJerseygame.Theboys left in high spirits and were loving the prospectofthisawayfixture.
Theteam,despitethelongcommute,took itseriouslyandpreparedthemselvesfor thegameaheadaswellasI’veseen.This wasevidentinthewaywestarted,fierce tacking and even playing the patterns, which was soon rewarded by an early penaltyfromNoah.
Wethenconcededasofttrybutthelead was restored by sustained pressure allowingAlitopickandgoandscorefive metersfromthepost.Aftergrowinginto the game our confidence grew and our pressure again was rewarded with an excellent taken penalty from Noah Roberts.
AlateunconvertedtryfromtheChannel Islanders took us in to halftime 13-12 ahead.
Thesecondhalfdefeatliterallycomes downtotheinjurieswepickedup(down to13)thefacttheyhadanextensive benchandthereplacementsbeingbetter playersinsomecasesthanonesthey replaced.Oneofthesereplacementsa great young prospect made an immediate impact when he broke throughnumeroustacklestoscoretwice inquicksuccessionthesecondwasmade easier by a momentary lapse in concentrationfollowingapenalty.
With20minutestogowefoundourselves threetriesdown.
Thankfully Molly patched up Rory Evans enablinghimtocomebackonandcomplete his MOM performance shoring up our defencesandquietingthehomesupportwith agreatindividualtryfromNoahRoberts. The game finished with us chasing them down for more trys with real heart and determination.
OnthewholeIwasimpressedhowseriously the players took the game before cutting looseandhavinganepicnightputonforus bytheJerseyRoyalboys. Thankyoutoallatbothclubswhomadethis trip possible. I can’t wait for the return fixture!!!
