Sussex Rugby - Heathfield & Waldron RFC - Boars reach semi final of the Sussex Salver

	Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Boars reach semi final of the Sussex Salver

Heathfield Boars 54 vs St Francis 2’s 7

The Boars went into this match with confidence high having scored 24 tries in their last 4 matches but aware that St Francis would provide stiff opposition. A significant factor in the recent run of results has been the amount of ball won by the forwards which has then been used well by the backs and this again proved the difference in this match.

The first 10 minutes of the match were evenly fought with both sides testing each other out. The onus was on the Boars as they had the advantage of the Waldron slope in this half and St Francis knew that a close score at half time would favour them.

Heathfield got the break they wanted about 15 minutes into the game when rookie winger Matt McDonald got the ball in space on the St Francis 10 metre line and out paced the defence to score in the left hand corner. Kenny Lewis set the standard of kicking for the afternoon by converting a difficult kick.

The next try was well worked and well taken. A ruck on the halfway line was won by Heathfield and a surprised Joe Geesin found himself acting as scrum half and passed to his equally surprised fellow prop Mike MacLeod at stand off. The ball then went rapidly down the line [bouncing along the floor if I remember correctly!] and Adam Farrell drew the last defender to him and offloaded to Matt McDonald to finish the move. Lewis missed a difficult conversion attempt.

Instead of motivating the Boars this stirred St Francis to greater effort and they applied sustained pressure for the next 15 minutes. The Boars defence coped well but Heathfield could not seem to get much time in their opponents half. With half time rapidly approaching the Boars seemed likely to be facing a long, hard, uphill battle to defend a two try advantage during the second half.

The game altered on two moments of individual brilliance. First the Boars were awarded a penalty on the St Francis 5 metre line; Dave Cook took a quick tap and charged at the gathering defence guessing rightly that they had not yet set themselves. He dragged two defenders over the line with him to score in the corner. Lewis kicked another difficult conversion from near the touchline.

Next up was Adam Farrell who used all his experience to wrong foot defenders 3 times [you mean he slipped] as he scored between the posts at the end of a 30 metre run. Lewis again converted to take the score to 26-0 at half time.

The halftime score flattered Heathfield and the team talk was about maintaining concentration and keeping things simple. This worked well as the Boars weathered the early pressure and countered after 10 minutes with a superb solo effort from Jack Bayley. Jack gathered the ball from a ruck just inside his own half and darted this way and that through a bemused St Francis defence to score between the posts. Kenny Lewis converted once again.

St Francis continued to play to their forward strength but the Boars were able to hold them and make ground through their backs. After another 10 minutes this led to a scrum on the St Francis 5 yard line being well won by the Heathfield pack and Dave Cook executed a classic number 8 pick up and drive to score his second try. Both teams then made a few substitutions and the game became less fluent and the St Francis pack started to win more ball at the set pieces.

Even under this increased pressure Heathfield managed to fashion another two scores. First wild eyed winger Simon Hollingdale (who had been a threat all match) danced along the right touchline, just staying the correct side of the line while under pressure from two defenders, and then broke free to score between the posts. Dave Rhodes kicked the simple conversion. Then Julian Wates showed his strength and determination by ignoring a 2 man overlap [hmmm, I was bored with everyone else having all the fun...] to carry two defenders over the line with him from 5 metres out and again Rhodes kicked the conversion.

St Francis finally gained the reward of a score with the final move of the game. At a scrum on the Heathfield five metre line the St Francis pack pushed a fragmenting Boars scrum backwards and Matt Jeeter was first to react and he pounced on the ball as it crossed the Boars line. Jeeter went on to convert his own try and bring up the final score of 54-7.

Praise must go to St Francis for the way they played the game and kept going all through the match. The one sided score line reflects the clinical finishing of the Boars [hmmm interesting!] in a match where most things went right for the home side. The semi final of the Sussex Salver takes place on the 18th of November.

Man of the match for the Boars was close between Dave Cook, Jack Bayley and Matt McDonald. The award went to Jack Bayley as he was always there when needed and dangerous on the break.

[Its fun adding comments to your report Mike, I think I should create an alternative report every week - :)]

Boars Team – Mike MacLeod, Jason La Roche (Chris Ambrosino – 60), Joe Geesin (Bob Togher – 40), John Parsons (Rob Streeter – 55), Tony Rose, Mike Brown (Ben Taylor - 60), Kenny Lewis (Tony Wates – 65), Dave Cook, Jack Bayley, Duncan Hesketh, Julian Wates, Adam Farrell (Rob Such – 65), Matt McDonald, Simon Hollingdale (Mike Barber – 65), Dave Rhodes

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10/31/2006 12:18:43 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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