Hastings & Bexhill set for '˜must win' game
H&B will entertain bottom-of-the-table Crawley in their first London Three South East home fixture of the new year. Kick-off at Ark William Parker Academy is 2pm.
Head coach Chris Brooks said: “That’s a must win next Saturday and a must win with a bonus point as well. This weekend is quite important.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdLast weekend’s 27-17 loss away to Old Williamsonians has left H&B eighth in the 12-team division and only five points above the bottom three, with third-bottom Park House having found some form.
So a sixth league victory of the campaign is essential against a Crawley side which has lost 11 of its 12 games to date, including a 33-12 reverse in the reverse fixture at the end of September.
“Crawley have had a poor season, but they’ve had one or two surprising results as well where they’ve run a big boy close,” added Brooks. “You can’t take anything for granted.”
H&B are likely to field a similar squad to last weekend, although Harry Walker has now gone back to university so Tom Waring is set to switch from centre to full-back.
H&B are without a couple of props. Tom Vincent is off travelling and won’t be around for the rest of the season, while Anthony Roche is also unavailable.