Off to a winning start!

Shoreham kicked off their Sussex 1 campaign against familiar opposition in Bognor. Both sides had been promoted from Sussex intermediate last season, with Bognor winning it & Shoreham going up in 2nd. For the first time in Shoreham's 24 year history, they found themselves in Sussex's top division & came away with a win against tough opposition in Bognor.

Shoreham won the toss & elected kick, whilst Bognor chose to play into the wind the first half. The wind & rain dictated much of the play in the opening 20 minutes, as Shoreham were camped out in Bognor's 22 for the majority, Bognor occasionally managing to turn over the and kick to safety, before Shoreham came back. However Bognor's defence was strong and despite Shoreham going over the line twice, they were held up by a determined Bognor.

The breakthrough finally came as Bognor gave away a penalty 5 metres out, which was taken quickly by Shoreham scrumhalf Ashley Miles, who passed it onto a charging Harry Rae, who bundled over, taking 3 Bognor defenders with him. The Conversion was missed by Paul Eyre-Walker, as Shoreham took the lead 5-0 with roughly 25 minutes played.

Straight from the kick off the Shoreham pressure continued, with the wind behind them they were able to keep Bognor confined within their own half. Shoreham soon made the pressure play, with a series of pick & go's Harry Rae once again the man to cross for Shoreham, Eyre-Walker this time was successful with the conversion and Shoreham led 12-0.
Bognor grew into the game after this & applied some pressure of their own, eventually kicking a penalty in front of the posts to make the score Bognor 3-12 Shoreham at the break.

In typical Shoreham style they found themselves on the back foot for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, there was multiple handling errors from both sides as the rain continued. Now playing into the wind it was Shoreham was struggled to clear their lines & Bognor who scored first after the break, after a knock on inside the Shoreham 22, Bognor managed to break through the back line and score, and sink the conversion, bringing the score to 10-12.

As the game wore on the defence was good from Both sides, Shoreham breaking the Bognor line a couple of times through strong running from Daniel Phelps & Paul Eyre-Walker. As the weather worsened Shoreham shortened their lineout to 5, giving Nick Hobden the chance to run in open space, which he did breaking the gain line on the back of every successful lineout from Shoreham.
Shoreham's hard running was rewards with about 15 minutes to play, after a line brealk & 2 quick phases, Shoreham were able to shift the ball faster than the covering Bognor defence as Daegan Beaumont provided the final pass to Nick Hobden, who crossed the try he deserved after all of the hard metres he'd made during the game. conversion missed by Eyre-Walker, leaving the score 10-17 to Shoreham.

Shoreham got lazy in the last 10 minutes and dropped off a lot of tackles, allowing Bognor's fullback to beat 3 defenders on his way to scoring with the last play of the game, however it wasn't to be for Bognor, who missed the conversion, leaving the score at full time Bognor 15-17 Shoreham.

Shoreham: Clarke, M.Shaw, Wilford, Rae, Hobden, Gretton, Beaumont (c), Gann, Miles, Phillips, Meades, Trimm, Eyre-Walker, Griffiths, Phelps
Subs (all used): Lucas, French.

Man of the match: Nick Hobden
Notable performances: Harry Rae, Mick Shaw, Daniel Phelps.