Things did not start well, with an old injury flaring up for second row Antony Faithfull in the warm up and work commitment effecting some players arrival, the ODs started with only one on the bench.

Horsham kicked off going down the hill and showed why they are sitting on top of London South East 3. Some strong attacking runs making valuable yards and their forwards working well around the fringes allowed their winger to receive the ball, on the gain line, at pace and on an angle, to score the first points of the match within in 10 minutes. This was converted. 0-7

Horsham did not rest on their laurels. With the KO going straight out both sides had some strong runs but with good first up tackles and more yardage made from each break Horsham came out the better and were unlucky not to extend their lead with a penalty that was missed. The scoreboard was stopped from ticking over by a good defensive performance from the likes of Linval Antonio, Ivan Marinov, Luka Perlain and captain Brendan Cairns. This defense could only hold out so long. Horsham had a catch and drive line out that was just stopped short. The ODs had been performing well in the scrums up to this point but were caught off guard by the visitors shove sliding on the soft ground beneath them. From the resulting pile up the Horsham number 8 picked up and crossed the line to score in the corner on 25 minutes. Conversion missed. 0-12

The pressure from Horsham kept on coming. The small amount of play the Old Boys had fizzled out with silly errors and knock ons. On the half hour mark after some good, quick ball out of a ruck things looked a little better for the ODs. A minor handling error from Chad Reay went backwards for Linval Antonio to secure. A ruck formed around him but this must have been missed but the Horsham blindside flanker who came in to squarely kick Antonio nowhere near the position of the ball. Play was broken up but unfortunately the referee was on the other side of the play and was unsighted as this was a clear red card offense or at the very least 10 minutes on the side line.

Horsham did not let this affect them and got back to the task in hand. From a secure Horsham scrum first up tackles were missed by the ODs. The visitor's back line ran good lines with quick off loads ending up in another converted try just before the break. 0-19
After some more Horsham dominance the whistle came and not a moment too soon.

The half-time chat and the ODs going down the slope had some effect and they gave all they had to get back into the match. Straight from the restart Jean-Pierre Mills stole the ball back and the Old Boys went to work. Making hard yards and spreading wide the ball was intercepted by Horsham only to be brought back for a penalty which was only narrowly missed by Chad Reay. This set the pace for the home side who continued to dominate this spell of the game. Pushing Horsham off of their own ball in the scrum and strong runs from Luka Perlain and Slavi Gumushian the ODs were rewarded with a line out which was spread along the back line eventually ending up with Malachi Connolly who skipped past three tackles to offload inside to Linval Antonio who had come over from the other wing only to be stopped just short of the line. With the forwards arriving it felt like a try was on the cards with more strong running from the OD props again being stopped short. The dominant play was only halted by a careless handling error from Chad Reay who knocked the ball on.
More of the same was to follow and a try was surely to come for the Old Boys. Good attacking runs from all parts of the side saw Linval Antonio being stopped 5m short of the try line twice. Nathan Banks also came short when, on a looping run, turned up outside the centre partnership to create the extra man. Bearing down on the try line Malachi Connolly was completely open, a simple pass would have seen him go on to score unhindered from 15m out. This was squandered with the OD fly-half taking the ball on himself back inside and again being stopped short of the line.
On 70 minutes the Old Boys suffered a huge blow. Jean-Pierre Mills had to come off the field suffering from a severe bout of cramp. With Alex McCulloch already on for Lee Smith in the first half there was no one to replace Mills. The ODs were down to 14.
Horsham jumped on this weakness. With strong running utilising the full width of the pitch and taking full advantage of the extra man their winger burst through the line to score an unconverted try. 0-24
With the game now fully out of reach and only 5 minutes left on the clock, Mills back on after recovering, the home side made a last ditch effort to get some points on the board. With some quick running in a tight back line the ball came to Malachi Connolly with space outside him. Fending off his marking defender he went on a second burst to score a run in try under the posts from 48m out converted by Chad Reay. 7-24
As if to rub salt into the wounds Horsham won back the kick off and followed their same pattern of strong running making it over the gain line with every attack and eventually scoring the final points from an unconverted try in the corner. 7-29
The final whistle came after the failed kick.

Horsham showed why they are top of the table. Other than a spell at the start of the second half they played a strong running attacking game not letting off the gas and defending with vigor never letting their opponents cross the gain line.
The ODs should not walk away from this too down heartened. They faced the league leaders and came off second best but showed what they can do when things start to go right with some great play at the start of the second half.

Next up is Lewes, now a home fixture due to problems with Lewes' club house, who sit rock bottom of the league on no wins and no points. Thankfully the results around the ODs went in their favour with all points differences and league positions staying the same. The ODs now have the opportunity to put this result behind them and get their season back on track.