Having only won one of their away league games last season, Heathfield and Waldron 3rd team travelled to play a Lewes 3rd team on Saturday with the aim of getting this campaign off to a good start.
Unfortunately the home side were unable to field a front row from the start of the game leading to a ten point penalty in Heathfield’s favour, but the game reverting to uncontested scrums from kick off.
Heathfield started the game with a fast tempo that Lewes struggled to cope with at first and good tackling with excellent rucking from the Heathfield forwards gained good yards in the early exchanges. From this solid position the Heathfield backs started to move the ball but good defence from Lewes after several Heathfield breaks held the away side at bay.
Mike Dilley has another charge at the Lewes Defence.
Eventually the pressure told and Tom Ingram at fly half made an arching run through the Lewes defence, the space he created opened the field for Justin Wates on his shoulder to take a pop ball and crash over for the first try. The conversion duly followed by Rob Woods.
The Second Heathfield try came again from a solid platform and quick ball from the forwards feeding a back line keen to run with the ball in hand. Billy Hickson fed fullback Rob Woods on an excellent line carving a hole in the home side’s defence only to be held up just short of the line. Heathfield attacked the breakdown quickly and Lewes were penalised for killing the ball. From this penalty Dan Bird reacted sharply and wrestled his way over in the corner to score. Rob Woods made a superb kick from the touchline to take the extra two points.
Heathfield competed well at the lineout, Jamie Ward-Smith nearly stealing Lewes Ball.
Whilst Heathfield’s defence and control of the breakdown were superb throughout the game, handling mistakes, silly penalties and a few wild passes were giving Lewes a chance and they duly took it ten minutes before half time. With Heathfield in possession of the ball and on the attack they threw another wild pass which Lewes snapped up. Heathfield were disorganised by this turnover ball and Lewes spread it through several hands for a try. The home side’s kicker duly converted.
Frustrated from this lack of concentration Heathfield struck back almost immediately. Another break from Tom Ingram saw him taken down by what looked like a trip, the referee played advantage as Julian Wates took the pop ball on and Tom managed to get back to his feet and take the return ball to score under the posts. Rob Woods made it three kicks from three with the conversion.
Good defensive work from the Heathfield pack keeps out another Lewes attack.
The Second half was not as eventful as the first, possibly due to the hot weather taking its toll on what had been a fast paced game so far. Heathfield still looked the more dangerous side and at times played some excellent supporting running rugby. Keeping the ball alive and away from contact with several runners supporting the ball carrier they were unlucky not to turn these runs into more points. Greg Kneller was lively throughout and Mike Dilley was involved in almost all the action.
However, the final Heathfield score of the game came from defensive strength rather than attack. Tom Ralph who had tackled everything that moved throughout the game made yet another great hit on a Lewes player and the loose ball found its way to captain Julian Wates. With great support outside him keeping the Lewes defence in two minds, he gave a little (ok a large) show and go to open up the space to score. Rob Woods maintained his 100% kicking performance with the conversion. The final score 7-38.
Heathfield's pack was strong all day and another maul leads to good field position.
With a majority of the side relatively new to playing together hopefully with more game time Heathfield can tighten up their handling and cut out the silly errors. What was promising today was the speed of ball the forwards were keen to provide, the supporting runs and quick passing in the open and most importantly the defensive tackling and rucking that more often than not generated turnover ball.
Man of the match again was a hard choice. Tom Ingram looked dangerous ball in hand until he had to go off in the second half with a head injury and Rob Woods ran some excellent lines in attack and kicked the extra points which can make all the difference in tight games. Dan Bird was strong around the park and put his body on the line making several crucial tackles but it was Tom Ralph who edged the award for his technically brilliant tackling throughout the game.
Team: Greg Kneller, Dan Bird, Mike Powderly (Paul Hookway – 40), Mike Dilley, Kenny Lewis (Jono Sharp – 30), Jamie Ward-Smith, Tom Ralph, Ian Schlieder, Will Chipchase, Tom Ingram (Dave Rhodes – 50), Julian Wates, Charlie Jones, Billy Hickson, Josh Pitman, Rob Woods.
Match report by Simon Hollingdale
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9/28/2009 11:08:43 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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