Heathfield 3rd team faced probably their strongest opposition this season thus far on Saturday in their next Sussex 2 league game. Aside from their pink kit Crowborough second team came to Waldron looking organised and well equipped and it was clear from the kick off this game was going to be a well contested affair.
From the first drop out Heathfield forwards streamed down the Waldron slope and pressured Crowborough at the breakdown. It looked like the home side were up for this game but then from broken play they lost their shape in defence and against the run of play Crowborough shipped the ball wide quickly to score in the corner. It felt like a case of déjà vu having been in exactly the same position the week before and this is surly something the greenies will have to work on in future games. The conversion was missed leaving the score 0-5.
Both sides battled on in what was looking like a very even contest. Both sets of backs look dangerous but neither forward packs could stamp their authority on the game and both sides struggled for possession to move the ball wide. The breakdown was looking more and more like the area the game would be won or lost and both sides felt hard done by refereeing decisions in this area.
The home side were edging it in the line outs and some good kicking from Tom Ingram put Heathfield in some great attacking positions. Crowborough on the other hand started to dominate at scrum time and won several key balls against the head when Heathfield were in the away sides 22 and looking to make the pressure tell. Eventually the home side got the break they deserved and Tom Ingram made a neat dart through the defence before being taken down close to the line. The ball was turned over but a good tackle from Charlie Jones and super rucking from Julian Wates gave Heathfield back the ball for Tom Ralph to crass over between the posts. Mike Shallcross kicked the conversion and Heathfield were in front 7-5 but with the Waldron slope against them in the second half.
Crowborough came out in the second half buoyed by playing down hill but more impotently they made better decisions at the break down which in turn gave them more possession. Too often the first Heathfield forward would pick the ball up and get isolated rather than rucking the opposition away. Having said this, defence is something Heathfield 3rd team have begun to take pride in and that certainly was the case in the second half. There were some crushing tackles from Captain Julian Wates at centre, Nick “Furry” Evans at prop and Josh Pitman at scrum half to single out a few but every player stepped up and made their tackles count.
Again the breakdown and interpretation of the rules by the referee were proving key and several penalties in Crowborough’s favour eventually yielded 3 points and the lead to the away team 7-8.
To be fair to Crowborough, they should have scored a try shortly after this when their wing was clean through but had to pull up sharply with a hamstring problem with five metres to go which enabled the covering tackle to be made. They also missed a very kickable penalty in front of the posts and you just felt the luck was with the home side and they could still win this game.
With time running out and still only one point in it, Heathfield found themselves with a penalty just inside the opposition half and a chance for the lead. Ben Cox stepped up to have a go but sadly narrowly missed the uprights with an excellent drop goal effort.
The final score of the game was from yet another Crowborough penalty in front of the posts to seal the win 7-11. Heathfield battled till the final whistle but it wasn’t to be.
A mention must go to Greg Kneller who had an excellent game but the Heathfield man of the match went to Mike Dilley who has successfully played better and better each game this season and had a fine performance all round.
On reflection whilst the home side might be disappointed to loose to such a small margin, every credit should be taken for a superb effort from all their players. Bearing in mind they were playing a well drilled 2nd team that train every week and whose first team play in the lower London leagues, Heathfield 3rds can move on from this game knowing that as they play (and hopefully train!!!!) more and more together that small margin can easily be turned around.
Match report by Simon Hollingdale
Team: Greg Kneller, Chris Ambrasino, Nick Evans, Mike Dilley, Kenny Lewis, Mike Brown, (Jamie Ward-Smith – 10), (Jono Sharp – 70) Sam Cooley, Tom Ralph, Josh Pitman, (Ben Cox – 60) Tom Ingram, Julian Wates, Charlie Jones, Billy Hickson, Mike Shallcross, Tom Gooders.
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10/10/2009 6:25:16 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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