Heathfield continued their unbeaten Sussex 1 League campaign with a resounding victory over neighbours Hellingly, running in thirteen tries.  The home side was handicapped by injuries and absences but even at full strength they would have had trouble in containing a rampant Heathfield. Pitch conditions were good on a sunny afternoon with a brisk breeze behind the home team in the first half.  The visitors had the majority of possession and with their three quarters having a distinct edge over their opposite numbers in terms of pace and organisation there was little doubt over the result.

The lineout was an early area of success for Hellingly as they secured their own ball well and successfully disrupted some of the opposition ball.  However the referee intervened to prevent some of their activities and thereafter Heathfield dominated that area as well.  Heathfield had an edge in the scrummage although it was not a consistently stable platform.

After ten minutes the visitors were fourteen points up from tries by Damien Pestell and Bryn Jones coming from quick hands and good lines of running which troubled Hellingly all afternoon.  The coach Dave Jones was already urging his players to keep it simple and not to become over-excited at the scoring possibilities.

These directions were now followed immaculately as in a period of ten minutes Heathfield scored three almost identical tries from lineouts near the home line, clean catch and drive and Rob Lawrence with the ball at the back was able to touch down unimpeded. (0-29)

Hellingly were able to collect three points from a penalty conceded by a well-known  Heathfield player who had a senior moment diving on the ball in an offside position.

Just before half-time the inspirational Kiwi captain Mark Walker completed another good sequence of passing to touch down near the posts. (3-36)

In the second half with the wind behind them and the sun in their opponent’s eyes, Heathfield continued to score regularly mainly through their three quarters and Ed Armah was the first to touch down after a regulation move.

However Hellingly showed spirit by counter-attacking down their right wing, hacking ahead and exploiting some hesitancy in defence to collect at least some compensation. (8-41)

That was the end of their good news as Heathfield continued to rack up the points and Matt Skinner and Adam Tennant both collected two tries apiece.   Matt also had a decent day with the boot, collecting five conversions and being very close with several others.  Will Drinkwater went close in the corner but was stripped of the ball as he went over.

Rob Lawrence scored his fourth on the day from a familiar move at the front of the lineout and the final score was deservedly collected by George Leney who made his usual dynamic impact in the rucks and mauls.

Hellingly had competed throughout the game but there had been some signs of frustration and the referee Graeme Pratt, who had a decent and typically undemonstrative game, finally sin-binned a Hellingly player for a bad late tackle.

All three Heathfield adult teams won their matches this weekend and remain at the top of their respective leagues.  Heathfield continue their Sussex 1 League campaign next Saturday March 8th at home to Pulborough, kick off 3pm.

Report by Phil Bell

3/1/2008 3:04:37 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)