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)     

This match was always going to prove to be one of our most difficult away matches logistically due to the distance to travel and the proximity to Christmas. With player numbers dwindling rapidly during the week, Heathfield were able to field 16 players for what had the potential of being a very hard fixture. As it happened a further 3 players dropped out on the morning of the match leaving a 13 man team and one of those players suffering a heavy cold!

The match started with a hugely re-jigged team and two “borrowed” players from Bognor… and it started with a bang! From the kick-off, Heathfield pressured the Bognor forwards and the backs ran a few successful moves ending with a scrum on the Bognor 10 metre line. A great scrum followed allowing Greg Pearce, playing No. 8 for the first time, to peel blind. This sucked in the covering defence and a good inside pop to Fergus Diplock, again playing in a new position for Heathfield allowed him to break the last cover and score close to the corner. This try was brilliantly converted by Harry Reilly.

Then followed a period of about 15 minutes of sustained pressure from Bognor with attack after attack being repelled by some superb defensive tackling and rucking from the back row of Greg Pearce, Max Ellery and Jasper Wrenn. As soon as Bognor tried to move the ball wide, thumping tackles were made in the backs by Harry Reilly, George Bending and particularly Henry Jolliffe. Indeed, during this phase pf play, Bognor managed to cross the Heathfield line twice, knocking on once in a heavy tackle in the process of scoring and being held up by the forwards on the second occasion. Just when it looked like Heathfield would eventually leak a try, Heathfield managed to steal ruck ball and feed Henry Jolliffe just short of the Heathfield try-line. Henry beat the first tackle and then it was a straight footrace between him and the very speedy Bognor fullback. A well timed hand-off from Henry allowed him to fend off the attempted tackle and stroll in the final 30 metres to score under the posts. Harry easily making the conversion. There followed a period of good attacking play by both teams to provide a very entertaining first half with Heathfield leading 14 – 0.

The second half started in the same vein as the first ended with both sides playing fast entertaining rugby with nether side able to gain dominance. Heathfield managed to post the next score again from a defensive position close to their own line. A penalty conceded by Bognor allowed Harry Reilly to clear to the 10 metre line. The subsequent lineout was won by Heathfield (as were most lineouts throughout the match) and a series of backs moves and great ball retention from the forwards saw George Bending able to clear the last Bognor defender and dot the ball down close to the posts. Harry Reilly again converting to take the score to 21 – 0.

Then followed a bit of pantomime from the re-start with the kick not going 10 metres. Whilst the entire Bognor team were static watching the ball, quick thinking from Henry Jolliffe saw him collect the ball at full pace and beat the defence without a hand being laid on him, to score under to the posts. Harry converted tacking the score to 28 - 0.

Bognor looked deflated at this point but credit to them for fighting back to again come close to scoring with the Heathfield defence still having to work hard to keep Bognor at bay. Heathfield managed to work their way upfield again through a series of excellent clearances from Harry Reilly and great ball retention from the forwards. Eventually, Heathfield were awarded a penalty on the half-way line which Harry tapped to himself and then placed a great cross-field kick for Jasper, Henry J. and Callum Cuming to chase down. The ensuing ruck was hit by a phalanx of Heathfield forwards arriving at pace to clear out allowing Henry J. to pick up through the middle of the ruck and break clear to score. Harry Riley finally missed this conversion leaving the match score at 33 – 0.

All-in-all a hugely entertaining game of rugby, played on an excellent pitch (given the recent weather!) and in superb spirit. Man of the match for the forwards was well contested by a number of players but in the end goes to Max Ellery for putting in a great performance when he shouldn’t have even been playing and to Fergus Diplock for some sterling work behind his forwards and against a perpetually offside opponent! Henry Jolliffe gets a very honourable mention for his 3 tries, great tackling, brilliant running and for being the first Heathfield U13 player to throw-up during a game, be taken off and then come back for more!!!

12/17/2007 4:03:18 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The match started fairly evenly with Heathfield electing to play into the wind in the first half. The Heathfield forwards just shaded the early period close quarter exchanges with good ruck ball won by Dean Pennell and Max Ellery allowing the back row to make good inroads into the Midhurst defence. Heathfield generally had the better of a bigger Midhurst pack during this period. Heathfield attempted to move the ball wide on a number of occasions but the big Midhurst inside centre was able to close down and kill most of these moves. It was from one of these breakdowns that Heathfield were able to quickly re-cycle the ball and quick hands enabled Henry Jolliffe to break clear. Further strong running by Jolliffe saw him beating 3 further tackles to score under the posts. Hugo Davies converted for a deserved 7 - 0 lead.

 
From the restart, Heathfield continued to pressure the Midhurst pack and a series of promising attacks were repelled by Midhurst defensive kicking using the wind well to clear thier lines. Heathfield's second try came from a Midhurst clearance kick that was fielded on the half-way line by Henry Jolliffe who was able to evade a number of Midhurst tackles to score his second in the corner. Midhurst countered almost immediately from the restart with the ball being recycled through thier big centre who managed to commit 4 Heathfield players to the tackle. This left Heathfield short of cover on the left where Midhurst's speedy winger was able to evade the first hurried tackle and then to outpace the covering defence to score in the corner. Half-time came with the game still in the balance at 12 - 5 to Heathfield.

Midhurst came out for the second half in barnstorming mood and took the game to Heathfield. The Midhurst pack started to exert greater pressure on Heathfield's forwards and started to gain better ball and more territory as a consequence. Heathfield's defence, outstandingly marshalled by Jasper Wrenn, Jamie Wardle and Greg Pearce, held out firmly until mid-way through the half when the big Midhurst centre, who had caused problems all match, managed to break a couple of tackles and score in the corner to set-up a final pulsating 10 minutes with the match in the balance at 12 - 10.

 
This score had a galvanising effect on the Heathfield forwards who raised thier game and managed to put together a passage of play involving multiple phases of good support from both backs and forwards. This led to a number of good breaks from both the backs and forwards culminating in a penalty on the Midhurst 10 metre line. Jasper Wrenn took a quick tap and was tackled early gaining his team a further 10 metres. He again took a tap and managed to evade and hand-off 4 Midhurst tacklers in an angled run into the Midhurst midfield taking him to 10 metres from the try-line. With the Midhurst defence committed to stopping him Wrenn cleverly popped the ball to centre Jack Koops who ran in to score taking the score to 17 - 10.

 
With 5 minutes to go, Heathfield appeared to ease off slightly allowing Midhurst's centre again to break free and score close to the posts. This try was converted leaving the score at a nailbiting 17 - 17 with 4 minutes to play. Again Heathfield came back at Midhurst with some good phased play forcing a number of Midhurst errors close to thier try-line. This pressure eventually led to Midhurst touching down behind thier own try line. From the ensuing 5 metre scrum, Heathfield managed to set up good phased possession and a sniping run by scrum half Hugo Davies saw him score next to the posts. Davies converted to leave a final score of 24 - 17 to Heathfield.

The forwards MoM was Jasper Wrenn with Hugo Davies taking the backs MoM award.

 
This was a highly entertaining and hard fought match which showed considerable skill in tricky conditions from both squads and maintains Heathfields unbeaten home record.

11/26/2007 12:01:37 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield enjoyed a stunning League victory over Horsham and look once again look to be back on the last year’s form.

Horsham started the game strongly and took the game to Heathfield who defended rigorously and then started to push Horsham up the Park. Heathfield found themselves entrenched on the Horsham line and the first try of the day went to Kieran Burdett who intercepted a pass on the Horsham line and neatly touched down.

From then on this became a game dominated by the Heathfield forwards, who rucked with determination and this was to prove to be decisive as the game developed. More and more clean ball was supplied for the backs to flex their legs. Harry Reilly at fly half used his boot to provide important territory for his backs to pressure the Horsham full back.

The second try was provided by Gabrielle Davies who took a beautifully weighted pass from Harry Reilly, slipped by on the blind side to sprint 20 yards down the touch line to score in the corner.

Horsham then marshalled and started to attack the Heathfield half but determined forward play by Jamie Wardle, Alex Borg and Jasper Wren ensured that all pressure was soaked up and once again Heathfield found themselves with a scrum in midfield. A crash ball from centre George Bending created second phase. Jamie Wardle at Flanker, in an important supporting position picked up, shrugged off two tackles and ran 40 metres to score under the posts, with Harry Reilly providing the necessary conversion.

From now on the game opened up for Heathfield with some excellent running angles from George Bending and Fergus Diplock, who once again played a thoughtful game and Ollie Giles always looked threatening and in the forwards Greg Pearce, Adam Davies and Henry Ross were the driving force behind their success.

The final try was snatched by Kieran Burdett in the last few minutes but Horsham never gave up until the final whistle.

A thoroughly enjoyable game of rugby with both teams playing exciting, attacking rugby with excellent spirit.

Upwards and onwards!

11/6/2007 4:16:10 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Here are a couple of photo's of the Under 13's taken on the 13th October at Haywards Heath RFC.

10/15/2007 11:44:58 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Heathfield U 13's kicked off their first match of the season with a friendly against local side Crowborough and were allowed to play on the main 1st team pitch.

Harry Reilly, after 5 minutes, put the first 3 points on the board after Crowborough were penalised for a high tackle and after this the game was dominated by some excellent forward play that helped Harry Reilly to pressure Crowborough with effective set pieces. At one stage, Heathfield went through seven phases of uninterrupted play where the ball was handled by virtually the whole team. Jasper Wren, Henry Ross and Jamie Wardle were highly effective in the scrum and Crowborough were not allowed to get into the game by Heathfield. The partnership between scrum half Kieran Burdett and Harry Reilly at fly Half is proving to be extremely effective and pressure kicking put Crowborough on the back foot. Unfortunately Heathfield lost Henry Jolliffe early on who retired from the game injured after having already proved his pace.

Jamie Wardle scored the first try from a quickly taken tap-penalty close to the Crowborough line. and ten minutes later, Wardle again tapped quickly from a similar position and found Henry Ross who ran a spirited sprint to touch down the first of his two tries.  The conversion was ably converted from wide out. Jack Koops and Callum Cuming are proving to both have the pace for some deft kicks that tested the Crowborough defence. Jamie Wardle scored the third try with some breathtaking footwork to evade Crowborough's last defence, following some good handling by the backs, once again successfully converted.

After this it was the forwards who once more took the game by the scruff of the neck and just would not let the ball go, dominating the mauls and rucks with gutsy determination and it was from one such ruck that Henry Ross peeled way and took a brilliant angle to score Heathfield's final try.

This was a hugely enjoyable match to watch with both sides playing extremely positive rugby and Crowborough were rewarded with a try and conversion in the last few minutes after putting up a dogged and spirited performance.

The whole Heathfield team supported each other, put in some crunching tackles and Adam Davies, Max Ellery and Dean Pennell were constantly at any breakdown and Louis Chavannes, Isaac Brown and Freddie Jones all played important parts insuring that the Heathfield defence was not breached. Man of the match for Heathfield in the backs was Fergus Diplock at inside centre, who tackled, rucked and ran tirelessly all game, with Jamie Wardle given the Forwards award, thanks to his 2 tries and aggressive tackling.

This was Heathfield's first match on a full pitch and the sides stamina and fitness and general positive rugby and teamwork augur well for an interesting season ahead!

9/23/2007 8:16:00 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

It would be fair to say that there is a little bit of history between these two squads as a result of matches played whilst on tour with the Minis on the Isle of Wight over the past few years. The last meeting was at the Vectis Festival 2006 when Edenbridge, having received a mauling from Heathfield in the not so friendly Saturday game, duly eliminated them from the Tournament on the Sunday.

The match got under way just after the heavy rain started  but this did not seem to deter a very determined Heathfield side from going straight out and securing the first score within 2 minutes of the start with prop Daniel Halls powering over for his first try for the club.

This immediately settled the Heathfield forwards and straight from the re-start they regained possession and after some amazing passes & interchanges in midfield got the ball to Toby Warren who ran clear of the Edenbridge backs at their 10m line to touch down under the posts. Fly half Mathew Barber converted with a fine kick in the increasingly difficult conditions. Blindside Flanker JJ Redman was the next Heathfield player to score, powering his way through the Edenbridge backs leaving them trailing in his wake, there seemed little they could do to stop such a strong player. It was at this time that the coach decided it was time to ring some changes bringing on three substitutes, a luxury that he has not been afforded over the last few weeks through lack of players. The Heathfield team continued to pile on the pressure & when Daniel Halls popped the ball out of a maul to JJ Redman he didn’t need telling what to do next and powered over in the corner. Mathew Barber stepped up & coolly converted his kick to put the home side 24:0 up at half time.

Heathfield were now playing downhill for the second half and judging by the first half performance were expected to pile on more points. Sure enough George Wardle, playing today at inside centre, didn’t disappoint, appearing out of a mêlée on the Edenbridge 5m line to crash over the line for another try. Mathew Barber’s attempt at converting fell a little short but this was no disgrace as he was now kicking directly into the driving wind & rain. The game was turning into somewhat of a war of attrition with injuries to the Edenbridge side reducing them to 14 players. Heathfield’s Oscar Lacey deserves great credit for volunteering to make up the numbers for the opposing side after playing a full first half for Heathfield.

Bruno Halit seems to have taken to his new role out on the wing and the Heathfield backs are now realising that if they can feed the ball out quickly enough he is able to use his size and pace to good advantage. Sure enough he was next on the score sheet with a fine burst the corner from 25 metres out. By this time Heathfield realised that their best chance of scoring in the awful conditions was running, not kicking, therefore they waived their right to any further conversions in favour of getting on with the match. JJ Redman scored two further tries, Toby Warren added to his tally once more and Man of the Match Bruno Lomu Halit crowned the display with the final, 10^th try of the match right on the final whistle.

To their credit, the Edenbridge players remained resolute to the end and never gave up despite the awful conditions.

Coach Mike Barber had given the team a stern dressing down after last week’s performance against Cranbrook when despite winning they had almost let a commanding first half lead slip by the final whistle. The same could not be levelled at them this week and the team never once looked like letting the opposition breach their defences whilst at all times retaining their desire to increase the score right to the final whistle.

This was the third time Heathfield had racked up over fifty points in a match this season and even more impressively the fifth win with a clean sheet of the season.

A fine performance by the whole squad : Jack Fellows, Daniel Halls, Ben Smith, Ben Maltman, George Wardle, Reece Webb, JJ Redman, David Bayly, Harry Smith, Sam Saunters, Mathew Barber, Bruno Halit, Spencer Heath, Gregory Johnson, Sam Keylock, Toby Warren, Oscar Lacey, Joseph Hastings.

Match report by Richard Smith

3/4/2007 9:47:09 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Dear All

We had to take the field on Sunday for our final league match of the season against Eastbourne with a squad of 14 team-members. The team did fantastically in the circumstances and we were lucky we only had to retire one player through a slight injury.

However, this has highlighted that we need some more players to ensure we can always field a squad of 18, after allowing for absences, injuries etc. Right now the entire squad size is just 20 and at the end of the season a couple of players will be moving away from Sussex.

The purpose of this e-mail is therefore to enlist all your help with recruitment. The coming couple of weeks are a particularly good time for new players to come along and guests are welcome to attend the Under 13 team curry night (7.30pm - 9.00pm) after training on Wednesday 14th during half-term (not to be confused with the curry fund-raiser being organised by the Under 15s):

• Wednesday 7 February: Home Training
• Sunday 11 February: Home Training
• Wednesday 14 February: Home Training and Under 13 Curry Night
• Sunday 18 February - Bognor Away
• Wednesday 21 February: Home Training
• Sunday 25 February - Tunbridge Wells Home

Note that we have cancelled the fixture away at Pulborough this coming Sunday due to lack of squad size. We'll have to see how things shape up for Bognor in terms of numbers.

So, please, please, please make an effort to bring along some new potential players to try it out - I know that Heathfield and Uplands are due to start rugby in earnest after half term and note that we have agreed 6 free memberships for new players for the remainder of the season so let's take advantage of this.  

Team members who attend Heathfield Community College: the biggest responsibility is on you since I know there are a lot of good players there.

All the best

Douglas Wardle

2/10/2007 11:53:44 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

A strong and combative Hove B squad started the match well straight from the kick off. However Heathfield were up for the task and after some fine defensive work they managed to gain possession of the ball and then went on through the backs to skilfully switch play from one side of the pitch to the other whilst making good forward progress over the half way line. By the time the ball got out to Toby Warren the Hove defence were only able to follow him over the line & watch whilst he touched down for the first Heathfield try just on 5 minutes.

Another determined attack & sustained pressure from Heathfield was starting to tell on the Hove defence & sure enough they gave away a penalty about 8m out. Heathfield No 8 David Bayly took a quick tap and despite his own forwards struggling to keep up with him he forced his way over the line on his own.

Unfortunately the windy conditions were not favouring the kicker & despite getting a good line on the conversion attempt Mathew Barber was unable to get the range required to get the ball over the bar.

By now the Heathfield confidence was growing and the pack were winning most of the scrums. Front row players Daniel Halls, Ben Smith and Jack Fellows all had fine games, each making the hard yards in typical driving fashion. They were ably supported & pushed on by locks Reece Webb and Sam Keylock and the back row of George & James Wardle with David Bayly at No. 8 is starting to become a formidable. With quality forward play Scrum Half Harry Smith was able to get quick ball out of scrums & breakdown situations which only increased the pressure on the Hove defence who had to resort to touching down behind their own line to prevent Heathfield adding to the score.

The first half finished with winger Ollie Kent temporarily on the touch line after a minor injury sustained during one of his regular lightning runs down the wing.

The second half saw Hove come out fighting to attempt to get back in the match. The game seemed to be more evenly balanced with Hove having more success in the scrum although Heathfield’s extra pre-match lineout practice seemed to be paying off with them contesting well to win possession on many occasions. Just as it was looking likely that the match would finish 10 – 0 with neither side managing to break through Toby Warren charged down an attempted clearance by Hove on the 10 m line. Second half substitute Sam Saunters dropped on the ball & secured possession for the Heathfield side with No 8 David Bayly picking up & driving over in typical bullish style.

Mathew Barber again got a good line on the kick, but was unable to make the range required to convert the try.

This was an all round good performance by a squad who are now starting to put together some good exciting Rugby with some excellent handling and creative play. Those players who go to complete the full line up, Ben Maltman, Bruno Halit, Gregory Johnson, Joseph Hastings, Oscar Lacey & Spencer Heath are all well worthy of a mention.

This was the first time that Heathfield have got the better of any Hove team at this level and such is the strength in depth at Hove in the U13 age group that their B team are a match for most other sides on their day. So overall a very satisfying result and one which adds to a solid start to fifteen man rugby for this squad with one defeat and three victories in the league and all the wins secured without conceding a single point.

Head Coach Mike Barber was a happy man at the end, but in a typical show of MB dedication to the cause, could still see areas where improvement is required in order to achieve the squad’s full potential.

Report by Richard Smith

1/14/2007 5:53:39 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

After a wet & windy night the teams took to the heavy pitch at Waldron under welcome patches of blue sky.

Heathfield started strongly with a try by prop Ben Smith within the first three minutes. A sound kick by fly half Matthew Barber secured the 2 points for the conversion. After some fine play throughout the team flanker George Wardle managed to fight his way through some strong Hastings defending for his first try of the day. Within another five minutes he had his second and before the end of the first half George had added a third to complete his hat trick, his last two being sandwiched by a typically strong try scoring run from a set play by centre Toby Warren. Unfortunately the strong & blustery winds were too much for Matthew Barber to add to the scores with further conversions but still the hosts went in to half time leading by 27 – 0.

The second half started much the same way as the first with another try from the forward contingent, this time prop Bruno Halit was the scorer. No 8, David Bayly was the next player to add his name to the score sheet with some play which typified his performance all match. Toby Warren ran another try in soon after & this time Matthew Barber got the measure of the wind again with a good conversion kick. David Bayly added his second of the match capping a display that drew high praise from the referee during the post match chat with the coach. The frenetic pace of the match did not let up and to Hastings’ credit they were straight back on the attack from the re-start to set up some good driving rugby towards the Heathfield line. From the Heathfield perspective it was good to see that they were not only about running in tries. They defended well against the Hastings push, well enough in fact to turn the tables once again and take the play back up to the other end where Toby Warren scored his third & final try following a flowing backs move. Matthew Barber completed the game with his third successful kick of the day.

There were fine displays throughout the squad, all eighteen players working hard in what were heavy conditions by the end of the match. Some players were in new positions, Joseph Hastings played well at full back, Harry Smith is taking well to his new position as scrum half. Oliver Kent played well out on the wing before coming back in to take over in his usual role as scrum half in the second half & openside flanker James Wardle is back to his battling best only four weeks after losing the plaster cast from his leg.

George Wardle was named man of the match not only for his hat trick of tries, but also his general dedication to the cause, never missing a tackle.

To complete the full line up, as well as those already mentioned, were: Andrew Horsfall-Turner, Sam Keylock, Ben Maltman, Reece Webb, Jack Fellows, Daniel Halls, Gregory Johnson & Spencer Heath.      

Match Report by Richard Smith

12/3/2006 6:24:54 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Despite appalling weather conditions a large crowd gathered at Cross in Hand to watch the Heathfield and Waldron Under 13s take on local rivals Hellingly in the first League encounter of the season.

All the hard work in training started to pay off as Heathfield took control of the game from the first whistle. Much of the first quarter was spent on the Hellingly 22 metre line

but despite creating numerous chances they could not turn them into points. Eventually the breakthrough came when the Heathfield pack drove for the line with some very dynamic rucking from the two Sams, Keylock and Saunters which forced an infringement from Hellingly. Full Back Matthew Barber stepped up and coolly slotted the penalty.

This lifted the Heathfield spirits and forwards and backs enjoyed a spell of territory and possession during which they played some of their best rugby of the season so far. Half back pairing Ollie Kent and David Bayly combined well and provided an excellent platform for the centres to attack with both Andrew Horsfall-Turner and captain Toby Warren making some strong and very direct runs through the Hellingly defence it looked like only a matter of time before one of them would score.

Yet Heathfield seemed to make hard work of it and as much as the forwards dominated they held onto the ball just a little too long and the final scoring pass eluded them. Relief came on the stroke of half time when a quick ball from the base of the scrum allowed fly half  David Bayly to run one of the club moves, dummying to his inside centre and executing a well timed switch with Toby Warren who burst straight through three tackles to score in the corner. Barber added the conversion from a tight angle and as the teams turned round for the second half Heathfield started to relax a little and play a more controlled game.

Hellingly came back strongly in the opening stages of the second half and their front five made some strong surges through the middle of the pitch which Heathfield did well to contain. The home side were clearly very determined not to let their opponents back into it and the backs in particular showed maturity as they handled the ball extremely well in the wet conditions. Full back Barber showed how to turn defence into attack as he cleanly took a high ball in his own half and opened up the play by cutting through the Helljngly midfield with a jinking run which stopped just short of the try line. In the ruck which followed powerhouse prop Bruno Halit was unstoppable as he took a quick pop pass and smashed through from five metres out. Barber again converted to create an unassailable lead.

In the closing stages it looked as though the floodgates would open as the Heathfield backs created numerous chances but to their immense credit Hellingly kept going and tackled their hearts out right to the final whistle.. Flanker George Wardle almost crowned an excellent performance with a try but the referee judged  a double movement in grounding the ball on the line.

All round an excellent first league win with particularly fine performances from newcomers Daniel Halls and Oscar Lacey and a welcome return to the fold for Ben Smith. The man of the match award went to Matthew Barber for his all round game and excellent kicking display in the difficult conditions.

Report by Mike Barber

10/22/2006 8:45:04 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Our U13's start training this week on Wednesday 6th September.

Training is from 6.00pm tp 7.15pm at the Club.

For more information please contact Mike Barber on 07790 700267

9/3/2006 6:39:41 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

24/09/06

U13's Festival (h)

08/10/06

Brighton (a)

22/10/06

Hellingly (h)

05/11/06

Cranleigh (a)

26/11/06

Crowborough (h)

03/12/06

Hastings (h)

10/12/06

Lewes (a)

14/01/07

Hove B (a)

21/01/07

Tonbridge Judds (h)

04/02/07

Eastbourne (a)

11/02/07

Pulborough (a)

18/02/07

Bognor (a)

25/02/07

Cranbrook (h)

11/03/07

Tunbridge Wells (h)

18/03/07

League semis (a)

25/03/07

Eastbourne (a)

01/04/07

League final (a)

Hellingly/Hastings (a)

12-15/04/07

Easter Tour (a)

29/04/07 (provisional date)

Worthing 7's (a)

8/1/2006 5:02:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

Please send any items for inclusion on the coming season, training times, contact information etc to nick.green@hwrfc.co.uk

7/7/2006 11:15:53 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)     

This was certainly a game of two halves.  From the kick off, East Grinstead, who were playing down the slope, went into an early lead with a try.  However, Heathfield dug in and defended superbly soaking up East Grinstead’s barrage of attacks to end the half only 2 tries down.

A superb run by Heathfield’s Fullback, Joe Benians from just outside his own 22 metre line resulted in an early second half try which brought Heathfield back into the game.  However, he had to leave the game through injury shortly afterwards which allowed East Grinstead to counter whilst Heathfield were still re-organised their defence, and score their 3^rd try of the game.

Some good runs by Flyhalf Jack Warren and superb tackling by ALL of the Heathfield side enabled the visitors to get back into the game.

A strong run by Inside Centre Oli Stables from just outside his own 22 metre area and fine supporting play by Loose Head Prop Fraser Goatcher ended in the Prop sprinting the full length of the East Grinstead half, riding a couple of tackles, and scoring a brilliant try in the bottom corner.

East Grinstead brought the play back to the visitors, but again Heathfield’s strong defensive teamwork kept the home team at bay.

This was a good all round performance by both sides, it’s a pity that there had to be a loser.

   Report by: U13 Management

1/22/2006 12:57:20 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)