Sussex division one is a very competitive league this season with a number of well matched sides all striving for promotion. Heath field experienced another very close contest but led throughout the match and deserved to scrape home by just two points. Although Crawley had the stronger pack of forwards which dominated the forward exchanges for long periods, Heath played the better all round game and it was their running style of rugby which eventually won the day. There was another outstanding display by the Greenies skipper Bryn Jones who made some wonderful breaks and set up most of Heath fields tries. There was a welcome return performance by Simon Wilson at No 8 and another quality game by Mark Walker who again commanded the lineout and was the visitors outstanding forward in the loose. The front row continued their improved form with Rob Lawrence throwing with great accuracy and orchestrating some good scrummaging against a strong and aggressive Crawley eight.

Within twenty minutes Heath field were 17-0 ahead through three beautifully constructed tries. In each case they won good ball, twice in open play and once from a set scrum. In each case Jones was pivotal with the break, once completely bamboozling the Crawley defence with one of his dummies. For the first two tries the ball was passed sweetly down the line with strong running by Damien Pestell and Dan Mitchell for the scores to be completed by Sam Thewlis and Will Drinkwater.The third try was created by Simon Wilson with a strong run from the base of the scrum for Damien Pestell to conjure a solo try out of nothing with a surging run down the narrow side.

After this excellent start Heath field allowed Crawley to get back in the game and nearly allowed themselves to be overtaken. However to their credit they hung on, scoring a well taken break away try by Bruce Pestell who took advantage of some sloppy play by Crawley early in the second half to hack ahead from the ten metre line and score near the posts. However this was one of few remaining highlights for Heath field in a game they should have won more comfortably. For most of the second half Crawley exposed the lack of muscle and know how of the Heath field forwards and by scoring two tries out wide showed that Heath are good going forwards but are prone to fragile tackling at the back.

However this was a fine and most welcome victory and Heathfield who face another much improved side in Burgess Hill at home this Saturday