Pulborough take a giant stride towards safety with home win

Pulborough took a giant stride towards safety in London 3 South East with a 27-11 home victory over basement side Hastings and Bexhill on Saturday.
Pulborough (balck and white) v Hastings & Bexhill. 21-03-15.JPCT. Pic Steve Robards SUS-150323-145532001Pulborough (balck and white) v Hastings & Bexhill. 21-03-15.JPCT. Pic Steve Robards SUS-150323-145532001
Pulborough (balck and white) v Hastings & Bexhill. 21-03-15.JPCT. Pic Steve Robards SUS-150323-145532001

They now need just two points from their remaining games this season to guarantee their place in the league after last season’s promotion.

A comprehensive display on Saturday lifted them up to eighth in the table and nine points clear of the bottom three.

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‘Boro will only need to secure the two points if Gillingham and Park were to pick up two wins to both leapfrog them.

Captain Seth Wise described the victory as a huge one and said: “In terms of our survival, we’ve extended our cushion over Park House to nine points and with Lewes beating Gillingham on Saturday jumped up to eighth place.

“Looking at the final two fixtures for the teams still in the mix for the last relegation spot, I’d say Gillingham have the most challenging run-in and as such could potentially slip below both us and Park House.

“Although, it’s still mathematically possible for us to be relegated we only need two league points from our last two matches and that’s assuming that both Park House and Gillingham win their remaining fixtures.

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“In short though, we won’t be relying on others to decide our fate, we’ll be going all out to secure the league points we need and settle things ourselves.

“Not only are we focusing on avoiding relegation, but now we have a realistic chance of securing eighth spot in the league.”

Pulborough controlled the game throughout and dominated the pace of the play moving the physically bigger Hasting and Bexhill team around and ultimately tiring them out.

They secured a four-try bonus-point win despite some resolute defence from Bexhill in the second half.

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The tries were scored by Jack Leddra, Charlie Denman and Ollie Paige (two), while Frazer Oliphant-Hope kicked two conversions and Tom Hoey put over a penalty.

Wise added: “It was one of those games where I never felt like we going to lose. It always felt like we had the measure of them in every aspect of the game and it was great to finally do the league double over a team in London 3 South East.

“As a collective we had talked all week about getting the attitude right and I think boys got themselves exactly where they needed to be to get the job done.

“It was particularly pleasing to see how the squad stepped up to the challenge that a must-win game provides.”

Pulborough: Blunden, Denman, Varney, Nicholls, West, Jack Leddra, Joe Leddra, Wise, D.Paige, Oliphant-Hope, Jones, Hoey, O.Paige, Steer, Ryan. Subs: Perry, Whyte.