Sussex 13 - 42 Dorset & Wiltshire

The host’s preparations were thrown into disarray shortly before kick off, when Captain Pat Shanahan had to withdraw due to a foot injury. Chichester’s Ben Polhill stepped into the breach and had a fine match leading by example.

An evenly matched first half saw kickers, Rob Parry (Bognor) and Westall (Swindon) exchange two penalties apiece. Then, just on the stroke of half time, one of many curious penalty decisions by referee Jonathan Healy led to a converted try for the visitors. Before this Sussex’s defence was exceptional, with second row Scott Barlow worthy of special praise

Healy had a poor match, something that was identified by coaches and players on both sides. He was inconsistent in the tackle area and scrum and prevented a great deal of flowing, attractive rugby by failing to spot blatant off sides by both sets of backs.
 
The second half saw Dorset & Wilts go up a gear; quick tries in the early stages saw the visitors stretch their lead. Slowly but surely they took control of all phases of the game; but the never-say-die-attitude of the hosts resulted in centre George Castleton crash over for his first try at county level. The conversion by Dave Sweeney meant a clean sweep of Sussex’s points by Bognor players.

In the end injuries and fatigue saw holes appear in the Sussex defence, which were seized upon by fresh Dorset legs with further tries to complete a convincing win.

Coaches Andy Turner and Geraint Jones were proud of the effort and application of the side. The Dorset coach Si Culley and Captain Liam Gilbert agreed that the score did not reflect how tough the match was and praised their opponents for providing the sternest test they have faced so far.

In all, the results this season have not reflected how well the entire squad performed over the last three weeks. It was so close to two victories, a runners-up spot and a place in the next round. Both Bucks and Berks (The previous two weeks opponents) have admitted that they were lucky to escape with victories.

This group of players from many clubs have bonded well. Team spirit has been excellent and they have never given up in the face of disappointing results. Most importantly all want to repeat the experience next year. The coaching team will now debrief the entire process and lessons will be learned so that Sussex comes back better prepared and stronger next year.