In the first of a string of crucial home games across January and February.Flying high in second place, with some convincing wins over most others in the league, 'Tiffs' were always going to be a sturn test for an injury depleted side, and despite the long journey, they'd come to play.

It's fair to say this match was a tale of two halves, with the first being a difficult 40 minutes for those both on the field, and any sporting blue & gold on the sideline. 5 tries conceded, and 33-0 down at the half, was not the coaches' game plan going into the match. The focal point of the half time team talk was on reinvigorating the team's positive attitude, belief and pride in the jersey, and in order to get anything from the game, Eastbourne needed all 3.

The half time 'kick up the proverbial' seemed to have done the trick, as Eastbourne started the half, down the hill, the more dominant side. A scrum on the opposition 5 metre proved to be the launchpad for Eastbourne to open their account, and after some grunt work by the big men upfront, second row stalwart Josh Buckwell powered over for his first try of the season, with captain Howe adding the extras.

Frustratingly Tiffs' answered right back with a try of their own, so at this point the team knew the game was as good as gone. Their only goal now was to salvage a 4 try bonus point.

Number 2 of 4 came after a scrum on Tiffs' 5 metre allowed Eastbourne to employ the famous 'cheat code', allowing winger Luca Bianchi to dot down in the corner, almost unapposed. No such luck on the extras for Howe, so the score remained 12-40.

2 soon became 3 as scrum half Brendan Challis danced through defenders in front of him to dot down with only 12 minutes on the clock. Howe added the extras, but only a try could remedy the game's first half disappointment. The team thought they had it, when back row replacement Ryan Shields crossed the whitewash 5 minutes later, only to be ruled as having knocked the ball on; 'DOD' loomed for Mr Shields. Fortunately though, with only 2 minutes on the clock, an ambitious catch and drive at the back of Eastbourne's lineout gave shields a chance to redeem himself, which he took with both hands. In what was the last play of the match, Eastbourne had secured the bonus point and salvaged something from the game.

Man Of The Match went to Mr Challis again for his incredible work rate in attack defence. In only a short period of time Brendan has cemented himself as the coaches first choice 9, and with performances like that, it's clear to see why.

Eastbourne welcome Kingston RFC on Saturday 3rd Feb in a must win game. Your support, as always, is greatly appreciated.

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