H&B trophy bid hit by injury crisis

H&B visit Bognor - a team two divisions their senior - in the last four of the Sussex Trophy on Saturday March 18.

And captain Kit Claughton insists they will make the long trip west in good heart despite seeing their hopes of winning the Sussex Division One championship dashed last weekend.

The William Parker Sports College-based club was beaten 22-10 away to leaders Crowborough and now faces the prospect of yet another nerve-jangling promotion play-off should they cling on to second place.

"It was very disappointing on Saturday," Claughton said, "but we're still pretty upbeat. I thought we performed quite well, but sometimes you've just got to hold your hand up and say the other team played better than us on the day."

Despite the loss, they will still get another chance at going up to London South East Four and they will be able to relax at Bognor in the absence of any expectations.

"The pressure is off us," Claughton continued, "because everybody realistically expects us to get a bit of a thumping. But we've taken some good teams close and, if they under-estimate us, I think we've got a good chance of doing ourselves justice.

"In any cup game you can cause an upset. We could probably play them 10 times and beat them once, but we've got to hope that one time is going to happen on Saturday."

H&B have already eliminated one team from Bognor's division when they trounced London Three South East basement dwellers Brighton 47-0 in round one.

But this is likely to be altogether more difficult because Bognor are in the top half of the table and are playing on their own ground.

Plus H&B are grappling with a front row crisis because both props are out and one potential replacement is an injury concern. Illian Granville (broken cheekbone) is sidelined for the rest of the season and Tristan Todd is unavailable, while Martin Sheppard is doubtful. The fitness of lock Neil Redman is also up in the air, but Ben Davies should be okay and Steve Lovick returns. Kick-off is 2.30pm.

The winners will meet either London Division One club Worthing or London Division Two side Lewes at William Parker on Sunday April 2.