On a warm late summer's day in the South Downs Havant met old rivals, Brighton. The previous last three games have all ended in defeat with the last one in the 18/19 season a savage mauling. After last week’s opening day big win over Sidcup there was more optimism, that Havant was a stronger force to be reckoned with.

Late changes stretched the squad with Pete Austin and Ben Holt dropping out before the game kicked off. Will Brock replaced Pete Austin and Ben Holt was replaced on the bench by Wes Dugan. Sean Shepherd also moved up from the Dolphins for a place on the bench and Elliott Bellman made his debut in the front row after re-joining in the Summer from Bracknell. With Joel Knight injured, the captain for the game was Jake Hewett.

The match was somewhat of a strange game (both sides scored 50+ pts last week), with both sides canceling each other out and both defences on top for large parts of the first half. It took almost 20 minutes for the first score, a Jacob Knight penalty giving Havant the lead. 0-3.

On 30 minutes a chance for more points for Havant but Jacob Knight was just wide of the uprights. Then the best action of the first half some slick passing in the backline released Joe Moore who made more than 40 meters before being brought crashing down inside Brighton’s 22, with a lack of support he was deemed to be holding on, and the chance was gone.

The first half continued in that fashion till the half-time whistle. A keenly fought half that was just missing something!

Half-time Brighton 0 Havant 3

Jacob Knight kicked off the 2nd period and from the off Brighton put Havant under pressure resulting in a penalty, Sean 0’Hagan missed keeping the score at 0-3. Some 3 minutes later and Brighton was in front, the ball was lost in midfield and Brighton attacked with real intent the ball was switched and the try was scored after a missed tackle. O’Hagan kicked the conversion. 7-3.

Brighton’s lead was to last just 4 minutes as Havant’s fullback Cam Smith found himself in space after a lovely long pass on the blindside, he crashed over in the corner which was expertly converted by Jacob Knight. 7-10.

Havant was struggling to keep the ball at times and the Brighton pack certainly looked different to the first half as Havant was pushed back time and time creating more pressure and another penalty for O’Hagan which was missed.

O’Hagan was pulling Brighton’s strings now and Havant was straining to contain the Brighton attack. Havant’s usual rampaging forwards was being chopped down without making any meters keeping the pressure on the defence.

Brighton leveled the scores with another O’Hagan penalty on 60 minutes. 10-10. Before a pick and go try out wide on the right pushed them further in front. 15-10.

Richie Janes came off after a bang to the face and some other changes were made to the pack to try and stem the tide, Harrison Young was struggling with his usual ball-carrying game. Havant needed a quick response, but Brighton just kept the pressure on, you could also hear the Brighton crowd willing their team on too!

On 70 minutes Havant was back in front, a fantastic turnover by a rejuvenated Harrison Young 10 meters from the Brighton try line was smuggled to Wes Dugan whose sublime pass found a charging Sean Shepherd 5 meters out, he crashed over with two defenders around him making the score 15-15. Jacob knight coolly converted and the Havant faithful roared with approval. 15-17.

Havant’s game management in the final moments was excellent and the ball was kicked into touch after a lineout inside the Brighton 22. The referee blew his whistle and the faithful could celebrate 2 wins out of 2.

Full-time Brighton 15 Havant 17

Will Knight said after the game

“It was great to get our first win on the road at this level for a number of years, snatching the win of a decent Brighton side.

“I felt we had the better of the first half, certainly at terms of possession and territory, but struggled to convert that into points. This is something we will need to work on at this level because opportunities don’t come easily”

"The 2nd half was better, but we put pressure on ourselves allowing Brighton to keep us pinned down in our own half”

“The most pleasing thing for me was although we weren’t playing that well we managed to work it out on the field and the last 10 minutes was exceptional.”

Captain Jake Hewett said

“Brighton is always a tough place to visit, and we had to bring a bit of grit and determination”

"It was a very physical game with both defences on top”

"Absolutely buzzing with our first win on the road and I couldn’t be prouder to be the captain”

“Once again the Faithful were in full swing cheering from the side-lines this really helped the lads”