H&B stunned on own patch

H&B suffered a surprise 36-10 defeat at home to mid-table Worthing III and dropped to fourth in Sussex One, denting their promotion aspirations.

A young and athletic Worthing side opened up a 24-3 lead at half time with two of the tries coming while they had a player sin-binned towards the end of the half.

H&B cut their deficit with a Ben Arnold try and Paul Sandeman conversion early in the second half, but two more Worthing tries sealed their fate.

Elsewhere in the same division, Rye went down 35-6 at home to Burgess Hill after producing a rusty performance in their first match for three weeks. Luke Cross kicked a pair of penalties.

Full reports on both matches will appear in Friday’s Observers.

Standings (all played 10 matches): 1 Uckfield 48pts, 2 Pulborough 35, 3 Holbrook 35, 4 HASTINGS & BEXHILL 34, 5 Burgess Hill 33, 6 Worthing III 25, 7 Brighton II 20, 8 East Grinstead II 19, 9 Seaford 19, 10 RYE 15, 11 Eastbourne II 8, 12 St Francis 4.