Chair John Halliday said it best. What. A. Game.

Chair John Halliday said it best. What. A. Game. Last time out the Pilgrims lost out by the narrowest of margins after dominating the game for large periods against Beckenham, this however was a different story.
Horsham had beaten an under strength pilgrims side at home in their first away trip of the season back in September, and it was they who registered the first score after some lacklustre tackling from a loose lineout ball saw the Horsham scrum half break numerous tackles on his way to the line- he was eventually dragged down 2metres out but the Horsham support play ensured the score was inevitable and they had a 0-7 lead.
The pilgrims defence put them back on the front foot and they drove Horsham back deep into their own half until they infringed at the breakdown and pilgrims opened their account with a penalty goal. 3-7.

They took the game right back to Horsham from the kick off and strong runs from the forwards saw another penalty conceded by Horsham. Seeing space in the back field Kurt Heatherly took a quick tap and put fullback Owen Hewitt through a gap and his pace saw him evade the defence to score under the posts and give the pilgrims a 10-7 lead.
It was just starting to look like the Pilgrims were getting the upper hand when they were reduced to 14 after Mo Pangarker was harshly awarded a straight red card for a high tackle.
That didn’t deter the city side however, and Hewitt quickly added a second converted score after a great break by back row Tom Mackenzie. 17-7.
Despite being a man down, the pilgrims forwards were bossing proceedings and were more aggressive in contact and were dominating at scrum time. They made this dominance count with 5 mins remaining of the half. The front five applied the pressure and put Horsham on the back foot allowing No. 8 Alex Evans to pick up from the base and power over taking the score to 24-7.

Horsham came out of the blocks quickest at the start of the 2nd half and they made the slope and numbers tell when they added a well worked 3rd try within minutes of the restart, 24-21.
Pilgrims busy utility back Fin Mason-Myers added Pilgrims bonus point try in response after his deft kick up the line bounced out of play off a Horsham defender. Mason-Myers and Hewitt reacted quickest and combined to take a quick lineout- Hewitt making inroads and Mason-Myers on hand to touch down out wide in support. 29-21.

Horsham then came back strongly and only robust pilgrims defence kept them at bay for multiple phases until the referee adjudged the city side to have offended once to often and since binned Tom Mackenzie for an accumulation of team infringements, reducing the pilgrims to 13.
Horsham’s response was clinical as they powered over from the resultant penalty to make the score 29-26.

Pilgrims then made their task even harder when flanker Jake Dengate was sin binned for knocking the ball out of the scrum half’s hands reducing them to 12 players.

Horsham, buoyed by their 3 man advantage then moved the pilgrims limited defenders well before scoring out wide, with their adept kicker adding the extras, 29-33.
Pilgrims could have crumbled, but instead they dug deep and found another level, the pack were heroic in their work rate, led by man of the match loose head prop Carter Oliver, they took the game back to Horsham with a series of pick and goes and lineout drives that resulted in Nathan Morris powering over from close range which was well converted by Hewitt. 36-33.

Horsham’s response was almost immediate when a mix up in the pilgrims usually robust defence, allowed their adept kicker scrum half’s to run in under the posts, 36-40.

With the city side back to 14 and on the front foot, they looked to take back the lead in the final 5 minutes. The forwards work rate was top notch and their running allowed quick ball for the backs who were a constant threat. With the clock running down the numbers were finally equalled when the referee gave Horsham a yellow card for 4 high tackles in quick succession. The front foot ball provided by the pack gave the backs quick ball and Collins and Heatherly combined to send Fin Mason-Myers over out wide to swing the lead back the pilgrims way with 1 minute remaining. 41-40.

From the kick off, Kurt Heatherly demonstrated great individual skill when he took the kick off, jumping high and catching the ball above his head to secure possession. The forwards then ran down the clock with a series of slow rucks to close out a dramatic and hard earned bonus point win that saw the whole team show outstanding character and determination.

Team: Oliver, Dengate, Timmerman, Hunt, Pangarker, Mackenzie, Devine, Evans, Mason-Myers, Ingram, Heatherly, Geddes, Masaka, Hewitt, Bull, Morris, Valladares.