Some games are memorable for the fine play and others are forgettable for dull play. This victory will live long in the memory but only of those people who stayed away from the after match celebrations. This reporter’s memory of events is patchy at best.

"Twinkle Toes" prepares to mash and mangle apposing players with a trade mark run... this run saw him pip Bradley to 3rd place in the Top Gun listing - NICE!

Dave Rhodes marches another scrum towards the tryline...

The Boars won despite a comedy of errors in the back division which three times brought Hellingly back into the game by gifting them tries. An early try from Chris Jones settled the nerves and Dave Rhodes added another shortly afterwards. Even the next score being a Hellingly try did not puncture the general feeling that the Boars could win it. Julian Wates then scored an excellent try when he took a ball on the burst at the half way line and beat the defence to make the line near the posts. This seasons Boars top try scorer Rob "Top Gun" Woods then snuck in for another score before the Boars threw Hellingly a life line with a wild ball that was snapped up and run back for a try by a grateful Hellingly player. Simon Hollingdale then showed his power game when he scored from 30 metres out having trampled 3 attempted tacklers on the way. The last action of the half was when Cook, the Hellingly number 8 broke several tackles to score between the posts to take the score to 33-19 at half time.

yes... that was "Top Gun" making a tackle, the stunned look on everyone's face says it all...

The second half saw more errors creep into the Boars game and another wild ball saw Hellingly score again before Woods struck for his second try of the day. Hellingly also found extra effort in the forwards and gained more ground in the loose and parity in the set pieces. This led to a few nervous moments after another Hellingly forward barged his way over the try line. Wates calmed things down with his second try and the Boars held on to the final whistle and time for the celebrations to begin.

Now that looks like its gonna hurt!

"Action Man" takes another lineout...

It was very good to see Joe Geesin last a full match for the first time this season even if it was accompanied by many threats that he would retire immediately the game finished. Aficionados of the Boars scrum hope this is not true. Sadly this game also sees the final game for one of the Boars founding fathers, Simon Walker, who retires after 11 seasons at the club.

Man of the Match was Julian Wates who held a fragile Boars backline together and scored two fine tries.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, C. Jones, J. Geesin, P. Hookway,  B. Groves (S. Walker – 50), J. Parsons (I. Jenkins – 35), D. Bird (J. Malewicz – 60, D. Cook, D. Rhodes (S. Hipgrave – 55), B. Burdett, J. Wates, R. Woods, S. Hollingdale (K. Lewis – 65), J. Henry (N. Sands – 40), M. Brown (B. Burdett Snr - 75)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

4/15/2008 11:16:10 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Boars clinch historic Treble for Heathfield

The Boars produced an excellent performance to clinch the Sussex Div 3 east championship and ensure that all three Heathfield & Waldron senior sides topped their divisions in the same season. This may be the first time such a feat has been seen in Sussex. However there was plenty of hard work done before the champagne corks popped at the end of the match.

...all round the pitch the Boars forwards cancelled out the larger Hastings forwards

the site of Joe Geesin at full pace has KFC thinking about steak, rather than the ball...

The game opened with the Boars facing a strong wind and a big pack of Hastings forwards. The first quarter was a matter of containment and sussing the opposition out. The Boars pack again raised their game against bigger opponents with the tight five working hard to allow the back row to harass the opposition. After 20 minutes a foray by the Boars into the Hastings half led to a try from number 8 Dave Cook. He broke several tackles, placed the ball between the posts and calmly converted his own kick. This settled a lot of nerves and the Boars game improved.

Five minutes later inside centre Julian Wates took the ‘wrong’ option and spurned an overlap to bulldoze into his opposite centres and he was very fortunate to break through some sloppy tackling and score another converted try [or in other words, he couldnt get the pass off so had to go it alone and through power and determination broke several tackles to score under the posts]. Just before halftime Cook rounded off a move out wide on the right as he scooped up loose ball and took it the remaining 10 yards to score. With the score at 19-0 the half-time the team talk was about maintaining focus as the game was not over by any means.

The Boars backs at FULL pace during another attack... now will Woodsie pass this time??!?!

The Boars have improved a lot this season and much of that is seen in their attitude and fitness. The second half was saw some good rugby with Rob Woods and Adam Farrell standing out as the ball flowed well and set moves came off.

First full back Woods joined the line out wide and beat the defence for pace as he raced to the line. Then Farrell smashed through the centre 15 metres out and made the ground to score a converted try. This was followed by a bizarre try when Woods broke through 40 metres out and chip kicked the ball over the last defender who then illegally tripped him as he went past to collect the ball. This would have presented the referee with a problem had winger Nick Sands not sped after the ball, collected it and scored between the posts for Ian Schleider to convert. That probably saved Hastings a penalty try and a yellow card.

Woods on the attack again during the second half...

All through the game Hastings had fought back by trying to make ground through their forwards. This finally paid off when they scored between the Boars posts after a long period of possession and good recycling that wore down the Boars defence.

Heathfield came straight back and Cook gained his third try of the match when the Boars won a penalty 5 metres out and he took responsibility, tapped and went so quickly that the defence was unable to stop him.

Woods collected his second try of the game when he again came into the line at speed and broke free of the defence to score. And the final try was the best of the nine when Farrell shook off a tackle from his opposite number 40 metres out and had just about enough gas in the tank to make it to the line just as several defenders caught up with him.

second team players look on in awe as Adam "itsmylastgameoftheseasonimnotpassingtoanyone" Farrell takes on John "Action Man" Parsons... mind the hidden suprise lads!!!!

The final whistle went shortly after this and the party started in earnest. This win sets up a fantastic final set of league matches on the 12th April when the second team travel to Haywards Heath and the Boars play Hellingly 2’s at home both with an early (12.30 pm) kick off to watch the Heathfield first team striving to beat Seaford and finish the season unbeaten in the league. The H&WRFC clubhouse will be rocking that evening with 4 trophies already won and a ‘best ever’ season to be celebrated.

Man of the Match was blind side flanker John Parsons for living up to his nickname of Action Man and doing excellent work all around the pitch.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp, J. Geesin (A. Sutton – 30), P. Hookway (D. Bird – 65), T. Rose (B. Groves – 65), J. Parsons, K. Lewis (I. Schleider – 40), D. Cook, M. Brown (D. Rhodes – 40), B. Burdett, J. Wates, A. Farrell, S. Hollingdale (R. Woods – 40), M. Barber

Match report by Mike MacLeod

[with a little tweak here and there from Julian Wates]

3/31/2008 8:04:46 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

East Grinstead brought a strong squad to play Heathfield at Waldron on Sunday. Playing down the hill in the 1st half, the home sides forwards dominated from the off and created good quick rucked ball in wet conditions. Good driving over at rucks particularly by Conor Ingham, Alex Borg and Zach Llamas provided good quality possession.
Flankers Jamie Wardle and Jasper Wren never allowed the visitors any time or space and gradually Heathfield began to take control.  Fly Half  Harry Reilly both had an excellent game particularly with his kicking out of hand, pushing the East Grinstead side back down field.

It was only a matter of time before the visitors defence broke and a typical sniping try by scrum half Kieran Burdett opened the account. This was followed soon after by a typically aggressive try by second row Henry Ross who ripped the ball away after he appeared to have been held up over the line.  Outside centre George Bending had a great game and caused the defence no end of problems with his strong running. He was dreadfully unlucky when he beat the fullback for pace but in trying to go behind the posts was pushed over the dead ball line. But soon after as the defence duly drifted across to cover another potential attack from Bending, inside centre Fergus Diplock beautifully dummied and carved his way through to score.

East Grinstead rallied in the second half now playing down hill and created there own try after a sustained attack but it was Heathfields final try that typified their progression as a pack, with picking and driving play from the East Grinstead 22 metre line. Involving the whole pack, they picked and drove probably a dozen times over several minutes resulting in a fine try for Borg.

Pick of the players of the game for the Backs was Freddie Jones at Full back who looked solid and controlled in everything he did and in the forwards was Conor Ingham who was tireless in his performance. Harry “Cipriani” Reilly’s kicking game was also worthy of a mention kicking 3 out of 4 conversions. One of which was right out on the touchline.

Match report by Brady Burdett

3/18/2008 10:13:27 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars took a scratch team to Crawley for a friendly against St Francis and eventually ran out clear winners in a hugely enjoyable game played under blue skies. The Boars arrived in dribs and drabs and only reached a full compliment 2 minutes before kick off. This also led to a strange set of backs with Jim Cumming (2nd row now with hair gel added “to feel the part”) and Jack Bayley (flanker) playing as centres and centre Julian Wates stepping up to play number 10. With all the hair styling advice Wates had given Cummings before the match he had forgotten that he would have to kick off, not know for his precision kicking it was going to be an INTERESTING start... Wates brushed off Streeter sniggering about the quality and validity of the kick and the game was ON!

Wates doing his impression of Burdett

Despite the lack of preparation the Boars were first to attack and put pressure on the St Francis line. The saints held firm by a combination of determined tackling and the Boars trying to hard, they had several chances to score but came up a few feet short every time. This led to a game with too many scrums caused by promising back play breaking down.

Finally a score in the corner

The Boars finally opened the scoring when the ball finally made it out to trusted finisher Simon Hollingdale who scored in the corner. After this breakthrough the Boars returned to their habit of trying to force the ball in the last 5 metres before the line. Finally a good set move by the stand in the backs put left winger Nick Sands away to score under pressure in the left corner.

Streeter crashes through again...

At half time saw the addition of normal stand off Brady Burdett who popped in for a game on the way back from a skiing holiday (handy place Crawley) much to the chagrin of his long suffering wife. This returned the Boars backs to their tried and trusted moves and it was not long before ‘shoeless’ Sands cut in from his left wing to take a ball as an extra centre, hit the afterburners and run half the length of the pitch to score in the right hand corner.

Burdett back in charge... Well be OK now!

Then as St Francis started to tire it was the turn of ‘all action hero’ Jack Bayley to burst through on the half way line and show a good turn of speed to make the try line for a score that Burdett converted. Towards the end of the game Bayley repeated this move only this time he took the ball to between the posts and converted his own try.

A terrible pile up is caused when Kenny "KFC" Lewis stoops to pick up what he thinks is a chicken fillet burger...

There were several contenders including Julian Wates and the evergreen Rob Streeter but Man of the Match was Bryn Groves for surprising everyone with his power, stamina and commitment in his first full 80 minute game following 9 substitute appearances. He laid down a demand for a regular place that will be hard to ignore and shows the Boars strength in depth.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp, J. Geesin (B. Togher – 30), B. Groves, T. Rose,  D. Bird, K. Lewis, R. Streeter, L. Vockins, J. Wates, J. Cumming (B. Burdett – 40), J. Bayley, S. Hollingdale (B. Taylor – 65), N. Sands, M. Brown

Match report by Mike MacLeod

3/17/2008 4:17:58 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Eastbourne Blown Away by Boars

A strong Boars team travelled to a windy Eastbourne and came away with the win needed to stay top of the league and keep the Heathfield & Waldron club’s hopes of 4 trophies in the season alive. The Boars opted to play into the strong wind in the first half and hoped that their defence would hold out. For long periods Eastbourne pinned the Boars back behind their 22 metre line without finding a way through stout defence. After 20 minutes a Boars error was pounced on and Eastbourne ran in an unconverted try. This seemed to spur the Boars on and on a rare foray into the Eastbourne half Brady Burdett called a move that saw centres Hesketh and Wates take defenders away with decoy runs allowing Burdett to sprint in and score a try that Rhodes did well to convert.

KFC takes another ball at the lineout [someone told him it was edible!]

Just before half time the Boars scored a second try when the slimmed down centre Julian Wates cut through 3 tackles to round off a bout of hard work by the forwards. The teams turned round at half time with the score at 5-12 in the Boars favour.

It was clear that Eastbourne would need to replicate the Boars tactics and play a forward dominated game if they were to have any chance of winning. This they attempted but the Boars forwards have become battle hardened and tackled well to deny Eastbourne any significant progress. There was no more scoring for the first 15 minutes and it took a bit of clever play by scrum half Dave Rhodes to break the stalemate. Rhodes was first to his own kick through and gained the try that seemed to settle the match in the Boars favour.

Gilly crashes through the defence...

Eastbourne never gave up but seemed to tire and the Boars were able to add fresh legs without reducing the level of skill available. This led to a flurry of tries in the last 20 minutes of the match with Dave Cook producing a trademark burst to score followed by Burdett adding his second and young Sam Barrow scoring twice. Barrows second was a thing of beauty with him breaking tackles on the halfway line and dummying the fullback before scoring under the posts.

"Twinckle Toes" storms off down the wing again...

This rounded off an excellent display and set up a chance for the Boars to win the league title at home on the 29th March in their next match against Hastings and Bexhill 3’s.

Jono makes another tackle on his way to Man of the match...

Man of the Match was Jono Sharp for a winning 4 scrums against the head and for excellent work around the pitch.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp, A. Sutton (J. Geesin – 65), P. Hookway (S. Barrow – 45), T. Rose (D. Bird – 65) , W. Visser, K. Lewis (I. Schleider – 20), D. Cook, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, D. Hesketh, J. Wates, S. Hollingdale, A. Farrell, M. Brown (G. Woods - 50)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

3/8/2008 12:38:27 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Captain Kenny Drives Boars towards League Title

East Grinstead brought a strong team to face a Boars team without 4 of their best players and came within a minute of victory. However the Boars are proving a difficult team to beat this season and their spirit and will to win eventually got them the score that keeps them top of the league with only 3 games left to play.

East Grinstead were the better team in the opening exchanges and had the Boars under pressure from the start. EG’s larger pack was putting pressure on at the set pieces and desperate defending was needed to keep out the repeated attacks. Boars number 8 Mike Brown saved a try when he managed to hold the ball up after East Grinstead had rumbled over the try line. The Boars were relying on the boot of Brady Burdett and  Rob Woods to clear their lines and gain breathing space as the ball was not moving through hands as smoothly as fans have come to expect.

This maul lead to the first Heathfield try...

After 15 minutes the persistent pressure paid off for EG when they won a penalty 20 metre out and they chose to kick. This broke the deadlock and shortly afterwards the Grinstead number 10 added to this with a clean break through the centre for a try between the posts which was converted to leave the Boars 0-10 down.

From this low point the Boars rallied and the forwards seemed to up their work rate, gaining parity in the set pieces and an edge in the loose play where the back row trio of Kenny Lewis, Ian Schleider and Mike Brown were outstanding. This gave additional impetus to the Boars backs and five minutes later Burdett tired of watching the ball being dropped outside him, dummied his opposite number and galloped the 30 metres to score. Importantly the try was converted by Woods to take the score to 7-10 at half time.

From the Boars restart kick East Grinstead countered quickly and would have scored had Captain Lewis not swept the ball up and took it out just as the EG winger looked likely to pounce. However this simply delayed the next EG score as another break from the quick EG number 10 allowed a score in the corner from where the conversion was missed. Had this been the final score East Grinstead would have gone to the top of the table.

However the Boars struck back very quickly and from quick ball won by the forwards it was spun left and full back Woods was on hand to score a try to the relief of most of the crowd.

Dave Rhodes starts another heathfield attack...

This was followed by a moment of madness as Woods again broke the East Grinstead line and crossed the try line but a moments lack of concentration saw him drop the ball and the ref denied the score. Serious dissent saw Woods be given 10 minutes to cool down and watch his team mates toil. The remaining 14 Boars did magnificently to contain the 15 men of East Grinstead with the fresh legs of substitutes Nick Kerr, Lee Keylock and Dan Bird proving vital.

Woods rejoined the action with 13 minutes to go and the Boars still 2 points down. This period saw the Boars gain an upper hand and press their tiring opponents. Time and time again attacks were repulsed until the final minute of play approached. The ball was passed to Keylock on the left and he made yards and bravely made sure that he stayed in play. Support was found and the ball went back to midfield where the attack was held up 10 metres out. Captain Lewis ripped the ball out and passed to Duncan Hesketh who drew 2 defenders and lobbed a miss pass out to winger Simon Hollingdale who is not easy to stop only 10 yards out and true to form he crashed over in the corner. The conversion kick was missed but this did nothing to lessen the cheers when the referees whistle went for the end of the match.

This final attack lead to Simon "Twinckle Toes" Hollingdale scoring in the far corner

The Boars must win two of their last 3 games to be sure of the title but after this hard fought victory that is within their grasp.

Thanks must go to Dave Robertshaw for stepping in and doing an excellent job of refereeing this critical game at very short notice.

Man of the Match was Kenny Lewis for a dynamic and inspirational performance for the full 80 minutes.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod (D. Bird – 60), C. Jones, A. Sutton, J. Parsons, S. Cooley (N. Kerr – 50), I. Schlieder, K. Lewis, M. Brown, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, D. Hesketh, J. Wates, A. Farrell (L. Keylock – 55), S. Hollingdale, R. Woods Sub not used J. Sharp

Match report by Mike MacLeod

3/3/2008 6:23:37 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield turned on a powerful display of all round excellence to overcome a spirited Pulborough team in front of a large crowd at Crawley last Sunday. They deserved to retain the Sussex Shield and in doing so proved why they are enjoying such a marvellous season.

Heathfield started slowly and against the early run of play Pulborough charged down a kick by Bryn Jones and followed up with speed to score half way out. The conversion was made and Pulborough were the first team to score a try against the Greenies since before Christmas. It was to be the only blemish on Heathfield defence in the match. The East Sussex side then rolled up their sleeves and began the process of achieving domination and putting together a number of good moves and tries. However their opponents competed strongly at the breakdown and gave an excellent display in the lineout where Walker and Tonkin struggled to gain the ascendancy. Sadly Andy Bates, the Pulborough hooker suffered a nasty eye injury early on and the black and whites lost a key and very experienced player. It was looking as though Heathfield might not overtake their opponents lead in the first half when the irrepressible Rob Lawrence put the Greenies on the score sheet when he drove over the line after some splendid driving play from the forwards. Soon after Matt Skinner broke strongly through a crowded mid field, fought off some robust challenges and ran to the right feeding Simon Wilson with a scoring pass. Regrettably Matt had been struck by a high and dangerous tackle in the process which resulted in a yellow card for Pulborough and a broken nose for Matt. However Matt recovered composure to make the conversion and put Heath ahead by 12-7 at half time.

There was inevitability about the way Heathfield overpowered their opponents in the second half scoring two further goals and two tries. The Greenies were stronger in all departments and importantly were a fitter team than their opponents. Their style of Rugby was very much to the pattern that has been put in place by their excellent coach Dave Jones over the past two seasons. Their very mobile pack was much quicker to the breakdown than their opponents who found difficulty in coping with the ball carrying skills of the front five as well as the loose forwards. Having set up rucks and mauls the Greenies were able to launch their speedy backs. The team play a fluid and entertaining brand of rugby and every member of the team and the squad rewarded their coach with a continual flow of attacking rugby. Two tries were scored by backs in the second half and two were scored by forwards. Damien Pestell used his power and strength to score soon after the restart and Sam Thewlis capped a sound and cultured display at full back by cutting through the heart of the Pulborough defence to put the result of the match beyond doubt at 33-7. Earlier the popular Mark Walker who had another splendid game had run in under the posts from around the 22 metre line. Appropriately Heathfields veteran prop Tim Evans sealed the victory for Heathfield by scoring a try in the corner after showing a turn of speed which would have delighted a teenager.

Heathfield thoroughly deserved their victory and the score line did not flatter them. Simon Wilson was deservedly named man of the match but this was a team victory and every member of the squad deserves huge credit.

The Greenies continue their quest for the league and cup double when they visit near neighbours Hellingly next Saturday, kick off at 2.30

Report by Mike de St Croix

Kobe Tonkin and Mark Walker

The Squad and the Shield

2/24/2008 11:06:45 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars faced an Eastbourne team hurting from a surprise defeat against Cinque Ports the week before. It was clear they meant business with a large and surprisingly mobile pack taking the ball to the Boars from the start. With the Boars scrum also under pressure it was clear that the teams would run completely different tactics throughout the match. Eastbourne wanted to play a slow game close to the forwards and the Boars wanted to play a fast game out wide.

Kenny "KFC" Lewis at the lineout...

The first 15 minutes was evenly contested with both sides making half breaks and defences looking strong. The Boars changed this when they won the ball in midfield and Dave Rhodes popped a pass to the blindside for man of the match Mike Macleod to run onto. Macleod offloaded to Brady Burdett who drew in the last defender and passed to Full Back Rob Woods who outpaced the cover defence to score between the posts. Rhodes converted to make the score 7-0.

the Club Chairman has still got it...

This stung Eastbourne who pressured hard until a big clearance kick and chase got the Boars a lineout 10 metres out from the Eastbourne line. Scrum half Rhodes caught the Eastbourne defence dozing when he took the ball in himself and jinked past the sleepy defence to score in the corner. To their credit Eastbourne came back even harder and pressured the Boars line for several minutes. During this phase they were awarded a 5 metre scrum and used their considerable weight advantage to good effect by pushing the Boars back over their line to take the score to 12-5.

Eastbourne continued to pound away through their forwards and the Boars defended stoutly. Another foray into the Eastbourne half gained the Boars a vital score just before halftime. The Boars forwards recycled quick ball and it went quickly through the backs hands and out to full back Woods who snuck in at the corner to leave the score at 17-5 at halftime.

Brady puts away Simon "Twinckle Toes" Hollingdale

The Boars now had the advantage of the wind and used this to pin the Eastbourne forwards back as much as possible. This worked well until blindside flanker Ian Schleider was yellow carded and a poor clearance kick let the Eastbourne pack execute their rolling maul close to the line and the Boars did not defend well enough to stop the score. 17-10 and the game was back in the balance.

The decisive score came with 15 minutes left to play when replacement full back Sam Goatcher came into the line and scored near the corner in front of the clubhouse. The Boars continued to work hard to deny Eastbourne a way back into the game and most of the last 10 minutes was spent in the opponents half. There was great relief when the referees whistle went for the end of the match leaving the Boars top of the league.

Man of the Match was Mike Macleod for a gutsy performance as prop and for doing the ‘hard work’ throughout the match.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp (C. Ambrosino – 50), B. Togher, P. Hookway (P. de Bruin – 60), T. Rose, I. Schlieder (D. Bird – 65), K. Lewis (B. Groves – 75), O. Robertshaw, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, D. Hesketh, A. Farrell, S. Hollingdale, N. Sands, R. Woods (S. Goatcher – 40)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

2/16/2008 4:55:23 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

On a lovely sunny day the Boars enjoyed a rare outing on the main pitch at Cross-in-Hand but struggled to play flowing rugby. The first half started well with early scores from Simon Hollingdale and Rob Woods but descended into a catalogue of unforced errors by the Boars and Crowborough came back into the game with stand off Ed Radford pulling the strings. A converted try by Crowborough took the score to 10-7 and the game was in the balance before a try from Sam Barrow, converted by Dave Rhodes put the Boars in 17-7 up at half time.

Will he or wont he? Just because it looks like he is going to pass it doesnt mean he will...

The Boars made several changes at half time and that seemed to wake them up. The forwards began to be more direct in their running and began to break the line before offloading. The backs responded by catching passes that were previously going to ground. This led to a flurry of unanswered tries with Woods adding two more for his hat trick and single scores for Andy Foster, Brady Burdett and Mike Barber. The score probably flattered the Boars but the points were put in the bag none the less.

Schleider takes the ball at a line out...

Man of the Match was number 8 Sam Barrow with Julian Wates pushing him very close. A special mention must go to Keith Davies who was lent to the Crowborough side for this match and put in an abrasive and gutsy performance including a ‘cooling off’ period in the sin bin.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. La Roche (J. Sharp), J. Geesin (A. Sutton), J. Parsons (S. Walker), T. Rose (B. Groves), A. Farrell (I. Schleider), K. Lewis (D. Bird), S. Barrow, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, J. Wates, D. Hesketh, S. Hollingdale, A. Foster, R. Woods (M. Barber)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

2/9/2008 9:43:49 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

A mixed team of Boars and Development team players enjoyed a close game of rugby on a cold but bright and sunny day. Early scores from Duncan Hesketh and rob Woods put Heathfield in a good position before St Francis really woke up. When St Francis capitalised on a Boars mistake to score the game got interesting. Heathfield were relieved when Nick Seddon scored and more so when Jack Bayley got another on half time to take the score to 24-5.

Hesketh charges through to score early on...

Kenny "KFC" Lewis takes good ball at the lineout...

The second half started well for St Francis with two early tries during a period when Heathfield went down to 13 men due to an injury and a sin binning. Once restored to 14 men Heathfield were very thankful for a fine score from Jim Cumming after a penalty was awarded on the Francis 22. After this St Francis piled on the pressure and the Boars limited St Francis to a single try in this 20 minute session as the clock wound down. With the final move of the game Levi Willis made the score more respectable as he finished off a good backs move.

Heathfield under pressure at the scrum...

Man of the Match was all round action man Chris Jones.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Bayley, C. Jones, J. Cumming, I. Schleider, S. Green, K. Lewis, S. Barrow, M. Jaques, S. Goatcher, J. Wates, D. Hesketh, L. Willis, N. Seddon, R. Woods

Match report by Mike MacLeod

2/2/2008 9:27:00 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

This Heathfield side have never beaten Hove but all that changed at Cross-in-Hand on Sunday.

Heathfield took the lead after 10 minutes with a well taken penalty by Mike Abbott but neither side were able to dominate and the game was a very stop start affair. However mid way through the half, the ball travelled down the Hove backs and following a few weak tackles they went over to take the lead. The conversion was kicked to make the score 3-7.

Heathfield rallied and started to string some phases together. Every time Hove gained possession, the back row of Ben Darcy, Matt Halls and Greg Salmon got amongst them, causing problems and Hove were unable to get any continuity.

The rucking of the home side was also excellent, particularly Larry Platt, Tom Watkins and Alex Scott who turned over the visitors on several occasions. Hooker Tom Keylock also had an excellent game, on any loose ball.

From a ruck on Hove's 22, a cleverly orchestrated backs move saw centre Charlie Dagwell burst onto the ball and dive over. Abbott slotted the conversion. Heathfields tails were up !  Minutes later, following great aggressive tackling by Halls, Hove conceded a scrum close to their line. Captain Darcy passed to right wing Ash Sutton who dived in at the corner.

Just before half time a brilliant drop goal by the Hove fly half brought the score back to 15-10.

It was all Heathfield in the second half though with strong running and excellent hands particularly by Wings Wayne Granich and Sutton, saw good yardage gained. Clever "pick and go's" by Scott, Keylock and Darcy meant that the Hove back row were always occupied and this gave the Heathfield backs more time and space. Fraser Rogers came on in the second row and he immediately got into the game by wrapping up one of the Hove centres and carried him 10 yards up the field

A long kick by Abbott forced the Hove defence to kick out and from the resulting lineout another clever move resulted in Oli Hancock with half his own pack behind him, drive him over for a much needed score.

The confidence in the Heathfield side was now for all to see. Another backs move saw Jeremy Burdett side step and jink his way 30 yards right through the heart of the Hove defence and the ruck was formed. The ball was recyled and Larry Platt was on hand to drive over and score the fourth try to earn the much needed bonus point. It also sealed a wonderful win and keeps the Heathfield U16s in the title chase.

Match Report by Bradley Bundett

1/27/2008 5:47:42 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The second league game of 2008 saw Heathfield still sitting pretty at the top of the league table, however an away trip to Newick could have proved tricky.  The game started with Heath playing into a strong wind and having to run everything, something that both the Heathfield wingers took full advantage of.

In the first couple of minutes a strong run by Levi Willis on the right wing saw him put Heathfield in the lead with a touchdown in the corner.  Both sets of forward were contesting a hard fought game, but Heath knew if they could move the ball quickly their backs would capitalise.  Dave Groom on the left wing scored two quick tries first with good ball passed down the backline, then from a quick tap penalty by Jack Bayley who offloaded to Dave in the tackle.

Imbetween the tries Newick scored a penalty, and the half ended with Heathfield 20-3 up.  The second half saw Heathfield pick the pace up with the forwards making some excellent runs especially from the skipper Jim Cummings and back row Simon Green.  The pressure told and there was a typical Jack Bayley try, picking up a loose ball and running half the length of the pitch to score and a Jim Cummings try from a quick tap penalty running half a yard to score.  Sam Goatcher converted both tries.  There continued more pressure on the Newick line and the fitness of the Heath pack was taking its toll on Newick who conceded a penalty try after persistent infringement, Goatcher converted.

With 15 minutes to go it was good to see a familiar face introduced from the replacements bench, Joe Reilly started his first game back after a long injury lay off.  He was quickly into the action and then a flowing forwards and backs move saw quick ball go out to Goatcher who threw an outrageous dummy and cut inside the defence to score under the posts, he converted to take the score to 48-3.  The score line was flattering and Newick made it a hard fought game, however another W sees the development team stay top of the league.

Match Report by Shaun Hipgrave

1/26/2008 5:44:21 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars travelled to Hastings to play the ‘new boys’ of Cinque Ports without a tight head prop or obvious front row replacement. Veteran second row converted to loose head prop Mike MacLeod offered to convert once more and said he would try to hold up the tight head equipped only with a short lesson from injured Joe Geesin.

The Boars looked sluggish during the warm up and started the match in similar fashion. Any ball won seemed to come out slowly and the Boars backs did not seem to be passing with any fluency. The set pieces were evenly contested with Kenny Lewis dominant at the front of the lineout on his return from honeymoon and the scrum evenly contested. Cinque Ports were playing better than expected with several dangerous attacked snuffed out by good tackles.

OOH look Brady making a tackle!! well more of a hug actually...

The deadlock was broken by Dave Rhodes following up a kick ahead to touch down by the posts and then convert his own score. This seemed to settle the Boars a bit and a good spell of pressure followed. During this period the ‘disaster scenario’ struck when prop Nick Kerr injured his shoulder in a tackle and had to go off. Come the hour, come the man and Paul Hookway stepped up and offered his services and while he may have had more comfortable afternoons he did a good solid job in that unfamiliar role.

Shortly afterwards a well worked backs move saw the ball travel wide to winger Simon Hollingdale who broke a couple of tackles around the 22 metre line and sprinted through to score. This score was not converted and the score stayed 0-12 until half time.

Lineout agianst the head...

From the kick off it was clear that Ports wanted this match and were heartened when their number 8 collected and took off on a run reminiscent of the Boars own Dave Cook. He went through several weak tackles in a 30 metre rumble and even though he was eventually stopped CP had established good field position and they were determined to gain points. Several phases of play later CP established a maul that sucked in too many Boars defenders and a try ensued. This was converted to take the score to 7-12 and raised the possibility that all the hard work against East Grinstead might be thrown away.

Paul "Handsome Shreck" Hookway slows down the 8 so Tony can get stuck in...

Luckily this score seemed to wake the Boars up - in particular the backs who began to make better use of the ball they received. The decisive score came at the end of a 3 phase move (well done to Dan Bird for a good recycle and pass) when a determined Brady Burdett carried two tacklers over to score a try he then converted.

Next came the best try of the match when hard working inside centre Julian Wates dummied (You sure!! slipped more like...) the pass and rumbled into the acres of open space that had opened up and made the 30 metres to the line in great style. The Boars were not significantly trouble after this and the icing was put on the cake when Burdett went over in the corner for his second and the Boars fifth try of the match. Cinque Ports must be congratulated for their progress this season and for the team spirit they are building but the Boars did enough to come away with the victory they needed.

Man of the Match was Paul Hookway for saving a 10 point penalty by standing in as prop and putting in an excellent ball carrying performance throughout the match.

Boars Team – N. Kerr (S. Barrow - 20), J. Sharp, M. MacLeod, P. Hookway, T. Rose, M. Brown (D. Bird – 50), K. Lewis (B. Groves – 65), J. Parsons, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, J. Wates, A. Farrell, S. Hollingdale, K. Davies, M. Barber

Match report by Mike MacLeod

1/26/2008 5:37:26 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

HEATHFIELD & WALDRON RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB (“the Club”)

NOTICE is hereby given that an Extraordinary General Meeting of the above-named company will be held at The Club House, The Hardy Roberts Ground, Cross - in - Hand, East Sussex TN21 0TA on Monday 18 February, 2008 at 8.00 pm when the following resolutions will be proposed as a Special Resolutions namely:-

1.    SPECIAL RESOLUTION

“THAT the provisions of the memorandum of association of the Club with respect to its objects be altered by:

(i) the addition of the words ‘to provide facilities for and promote participation of the whole of the community in the sport of rugby union;’ as a new clause 3 (i) and by the consequential re-numbering of all following clauses;

(ii) the deletion of the words ‘make any donations in cash or assets or’ from clause 3 (10);

(iii) the deletion of clause 3 (13) and the consequential re-numbering of all following clauses; and

(iv) the deletion of the words ‘Charitable Organisation with similar objectives’ from clause 7 and the insertion in their place of the words ‘registered Community Amateur Sports Club with like objectives or to the Rugby Football Union for use by them in community related sports’. “

2.    SPECIAL RESOLUTION

“THAT the provisions of the articles of association of the Club be amended by the insertion as a new regulation 12 of the following words:

‘Membership of the Club shall be open to all persons irrespective of ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs; or of age, sex or disability except as a necessary consequence of the requirements of rugby as a particular sport. The Club may refuse membership or expel from membership only for good and sufficient cause, such as conduct or character likely to bring the Club or sport into disrepute. Appeal against such a decision may be made to the Club’s members and decided by a majority vote.’

and by the consequential re-numbering of all following regulations.”

Dated the 24 January 2008

Tim Ball
Secretary

Registered office:- 
      
Fifth Floor
Old Change House
128 Queen Victoria Street
London EC4V 4BJ        

Note:- A member entitled to attend and vote at the meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote instead of him; a proxy need not be a member.

1/24/2008 12:25:54 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

After getting to three cup finals last year, it looks like Heathfield & Waldron RFC may be trying to go one better. We are proud to point out that after last weeks league games, Heathfield & Waldron RFC are now top of all three of their respective Sussex divisions.

Check out the league tables below; well done to the whole club, not only players but also coaches, all the people who help run the club on a day to day basis and of course the supporters who turn up every week to watch all three teams play...

The First team are clear by 5 points...

The Seconds are clear by 3 points and have a game in hand against their nearest rivals...

and the Boars are also 3 points clear

There is still a lot of rugby left to be played in Sussex this year but lets keep our fingers crossed all three teams can keep on playing as well as they have been...

1/23/2008 1:22:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars did what they had to do and more in this table topping clash at Waldron and in doing so avenged their only league defeat of the season so far. It was probably the Boars best ever display of rugby as a very strong side were aggressive and organised in the forwards and incisive in the backs (well done to manager Tony Rose for getting everyone out on the same weekend).

The Boars won the important Waldron ‘toss’ and elected to stick with tradition and play uphill in the first half. This turned out to be a hard fought affair with the Boars taking their half chances while the visitors missed theirs.

Within 5 minutes Jim Cumming took advantage of an early lapse in tackling as he ran 20 metres to score a converted try then giving a classic Cumming excuse of “I just couldn’t pass”. It took 15 minutes of midfield battling before the next score. From a lineout on the Grinstead 22 metre line a very well controlled maul was moved 23 metres to the line for Ian Schleider to score. Shortly after that East Grinstead drove into the Boars 22 and won a penalty that they opted to kick and score. The game was still tight until Brady Burdett called for a move that saw full back Rob Woods hit the line at speed and glide untouched the 30 metres to score between the posts. This showed the threat that centres Duncan Hesketh and Julian Wates were posing as all the defenders had lined up to halt them as usual. This took the score to 19-3 at half-time.

The Boars half-time team talk was a reminder to stay focused and not to think the game was over just because we were leading going uphill. The second half began much as the first ended with heavy hits and not much width being used. Then substitute prop Nick Kerr burst through the defence to score after a scrum near the Pirates line.

East Grinstead fought back and pummelled the Boars line for a 10 minute spell before a breakaway try for Woods seemed to swing the game. The rest of the match saw a tiring East Grinstead side trying to contain a buoyant Boars side playing at the top of their game. The last 15 minutes saw two tries from Dave Cook, a second from Cumming and a solo effort from Burdett as the Boars counter attacked at every opportunity.

Man of the Match was Brady Burdett for a controlled performance that brought others into the game, winning a maul and for actually tackling the opposition players.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod (N. Kerr – 45), C. Jones (J. Sharp - 70), L. Marshall (A. Sutton – 60), J. Cumming (P. Hookway – 65), T. Rose, M. Brown (K. Lewis – 55), Ian Schleider, D. Cook, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, J. Wates, D. Hesketh, S. Hollingdale (A. Farrell – 60), M. Barber (J. Salmon – 50), R. Woods

Match report by Mike MacLeod

1/19/2008 3:56:23 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars worked hard for this victory over their local rivals. The game was competitive well into the second half before the Boars racked up enough points to relax and play expansive rugby.

The game started with the Boars under pressure but a good kick from Brady Burdett gave a lineout 15 metres out which the Boars caught, controlled and drove a maul over the Uckfield line only for an unsighted referee to deny the try. The Boars then pressure the Uckfield line for the next 5 minutes without success against stout defence until Burdett faced with few options decided to try a drop goal. It sailed ‘Wilkinson like’ over the crossbar to cheers from the Boars.

Uckfield rallied for the next few minutes until the Boars managed to push up field where Uckfield gave away a penalty in front of the posts which Burdett duly kicked.
The rest of the half was nip and tuck with both sides having opportunities which they squandered A decisive blow was struck just before half time by Simon Hollingdale; Julian Wates chipped a ball into space behind the Uckfield defence and Twinkle Toes beat the full back to the ball, hacking the loose ball on and then winning the footrace to touch the ball down for a try. This brought the score to 11-0 at half time and with it the feeling that the next score could be crucial.

The Boars had a good team talk and came out fired up. From the kick off pressure was put on the Uckfield forwards and when the ball was released the Boars backs took over with Burdett making several of his trade mark sidesteps, making several Uckfield players looking like bairns, clutching at thin air before feeding full back Mike Barber who joined in on the overlap not only to score but to score between the posts where Duncan Hesketh converted. Further Boars pressure shortly afterwards led to a poor Uckfield clearance kick being caught by Mike Shallcross who then evaded several tackles during a jinking run that ended with him scoring between the posts and converting his own try.

Uckfield began to force the game at this point to try and avoid the whitewash that faced them. This tactic allowed the Boars to feed off any errors and counterattack whenever the opportunity arose. The best try of the match followed. Quick hands through the backs saw Hesketh put winger Jake Donnebaer in space, he evaded several tackles before popping the ball back to the supporting Hesketh, who then returned the favour, Donnebaer sped through the remaining defenders finally passing out of the last tackle to flanker Ian Schleider who made the final 10 metres to tap down between the posts for an easily converted try.

With their tails up the Boars played good rugby and Dave Cook broke several tackles to score off the base of a scrum. This was followed by a Burdett try, Julian Wates  taking a pop from Burdett broke through the defence on the half way line, after breaking several more tackles Wates passed to Dave Cook who in turn passed to the supporting Burdett to score.

with several Uckfield players looking like bairns as they collected dummies.

The final try was a solo effort by Donnebaer as he collected a loose Uckfield cross field kick on his own 22 and backed himself for pace to outstrip a worn out Uckfield defence.

The Boars next league match is against East Grinstead 3’s at Waldron on the 19th January and is likely to decide the destination of the division 3 league title.

Man of the Match was Chris Jones for an outstanding performance at hooker despite dislocating a thumb early in the match.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, C. Jones, A. Sutton, P. Hookway, T. Rose, A. Farrell (S. Walker – 40), Ian Schleider (D. Bird – 60), J. Cannella (D. Cook – 40), L. Keylock, B. Burdett, J. Wates, D. Hesketh, S. Hollingdale (K. Davies – 65), M. Shallcross, M. Barber (J. Donnebaer – 45)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

1/7/2008 5:19:43 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Great End to Year for Rugby Girls

H3 U15 girls’ rugby team ended 2007 with an impressive 85-0 win over South Sussex at Hastings on Sunday.

Excellent teamwork denied South Sussex opportunities to make sustained attacks and determined defence on all parts of the field ensured H3 kept a clean sheet. Hard work at training paid off with H3 forwards showing particular strength at rucks and whenever the ball fell loose.  This allowed their backs to demonstrate their speed, with several tries run from inside the South Sussex 22.  Six different names appeared on the score sheet, demonstrating the depth of talent within the H3 side.  Try scorers were Debs Harwood, Nina Crowther, Katie Bauer, Georgia Gale and Mel Ruffel, with Laura Baker and Debs Harwood converting 9 of those tries.

12/18/2007 4:41:40 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars continue their good run of form with a solid win over their local rivals. The Boars started slowly following the stag night of Boars Captain Kenny Lewis and paid the penalty early. Burdett threw a pass that resembled a wounded pigeon and while trying to deal with this mess Hesketh passed to a grateful opponent who ran in to score between the posts for a converted try. The boars also had to sort out a misfiring scrum which contained four who were sweating pure alcohol from the night before.

A bit of normal service was resumed as the Boars forwards began to win the ball at the breakdowns and grind forward. From this platform the backs began to string passes together and Hesketh made hard yards up the middle, offloaded to Julian Wates who rode the last two tackles to score between the posts and allow Rhodes to convert. Hellingly were then unlucky to have a man sin-binned for persistent infringement and even they were surprised when they went over for a converted try during this period.

The next score looked critical and the Boars got it as the controlled a maul near the halfway line scrumhalf Rhodes sensed that the Hellingly defence had overcommitted and made a blindside break and as he was tackled found Tony Wates on his shoulder for a try. This seemed to settle the team and a more stable platform was found from which to pressure the Hellingly defence into mistakes. Good work on the left led to a penalty 10 yards out. Rhodes took the quick tap and spun the ball right where it went quickly through hands to allow Hollingdale to beat a stretched defence to score in the corner. So this brought up half time with the score at 17-12 to the Boars.

The second half saw fresh legs added in the form of a number of Colts who added vim and vigour to the advantage of playing downhill and Hellingly were made to defend for most of the half. The Boars pack had by now sorted out their issues (sweated out the alcohol?) and were winning ball cleanly and from this platform the backs swept into action. Julian Wates and Burdett scored good tries before the colts took over with Dorrill and Neil ? both scoring before Julian wates scored his third and final try. This rounded of a fine match for the Boars and kept the pressure on East Grinstead at the top of the league.

The funniest moment of the match was when big Julian Wates was ‘interacting’ with an opponent after a ruck and a voice piped up “Oi! That’s my little brother so leave him alone”. Julian and opponent were left helpless with laughter at such a show brotherly love.

Man of the Match was Duncan Hesketh who often broke the defensive line to allow others to score and put in the big tackles to halt the opposition attacks.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, T. Wates, A. Sutton, P. Hookway, T. Rose, N. Wood (S. Dorrill – 40), Ian Schleider, J. Parsons (D. Bird – 60), D. Rhodes, B. Burdett (L. Keylock), J. Wates, D. Hesketh, S. Hollingdale (J. Donnebaer – 40), N. Huxter (K. Davies – 60), M. Barber

Match report by Mike MacLeod

12/18/2007 1:57:07 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)