Sussex Rugby - Heathfield & Waldron RFC - Heathfield Boars 26 Hellingly 2nd XV 10

	Saturday, March 25, 2006

Heathfield Boars 26 Hellingly 2nd XV 10

Boars triumph in local derby match

The Boars played their last league match of the season against local rivals Hellingly and were hungry to avenge their defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the early season.

Hellingly had the advantage of the breeze in the first half and put in several long kicks early on. However they had an early warning that kicks had to find touch or Heathfield would run it straight back at them when young Chris Jaques collected a kick and made 25 metres before he was brought down.

The first try came after 10 minutes when the Boars forwards secured loose ball on the right and Dave Rhodes put quick ball to the backs. It was fed swiftly down the back line with ground being made all the time. When it reached winger Chris Jaques he was held by the last defender but had the presence of mind to pass to outside centre Mike Barber who had looped round. Barber had time to cover the last 15 metres and then touch down near enough the posts for Lewis to kick the conversion.

At this stage Heathfield were playing some of their best rugby of the season with the forwards hunting together and the backs passing fluidly and making plenty of ground. Hellingly were being kept in the game by good tackling and some big defensive kicks that relieved the pressure. So it was no surprise when the Boars extended their lead at the 25-minute mark. It was that man Barber who again put the finishing touches to some excellent play when he took a pass on the 22 metre line and ran an excellent line that took him past his opposite number and through the fullbacks tackle to score. Kenny Lewis converted to take the score to 14-0.

Rather than push on for the win Heathfield seemed to stop working and this let Hellingly back into the match. Hellingly were awarded a penalty about 10 metres out and worked a set move that had big prop Riply jinking like an oiltanker (surrounded by tugs) before crashing over the line. Hellingly missed the kick making the score 14-5 but leaving the game back in the balance.

Hellingly then enjoyed their best period of possession and continued to press the Heathfield line. This was made even more impressive as Heathfield continued to dominate the scrums with hooker Andy Sutton taking a several strikes against the head. However Hellingly failed to convert this pressure into points and were made to pay when Chris Jaques came off his wing during broken play to take a pass just outside the Hellingly 22 and broke a couple of weak tackles before scoring between the posts. This was the last serious action of the first half and another Lewis conversion left the half time score at 21-5.

The game continued in the same vein after the restart with Heathfield looking the more dangerous in open play and Hellingly using their forwards well in the maul. After 15 minutes of effort but no points Heathfield made more changes with Simon Hollingsdale, returning from injury, unlucky not to make an immediate impact with a 25 yards charge up his wing before being bundled into touch 5 yards out. This set up a period of Boars pressure that ended with Seb Jones finishing off a sweeping move by scoring a try in the corner that Lewis failed to convert.

With 15 minutes left the game was back in the balance as Hellingly refused to accept that the game was over, came back strongly and gained their reward when their youngest player, Callum Forsyth, drove over the try line after repeated forward drives had worn down the Boars defence.

More spice was added with 8 minutes left when Mike MacLeod was shown the yellow card for being offside at a ruck. MacLeod was further shamed by the realisation that he was the first ever Boar to be so disciplined.

Hellingly tried their best to capitalise on their numerical advantage but Heathfield survived to take the victory 26-10.

Mike Barber and Chris Jaques were candidates for man of the match and Barber won by the simple fact of still being in the bar when the award was announced and the 'last man standing' ruling was invoked.

Squad - M. MacLeod, A. Sutton, S. Lester (J. Geesin - 50), P. Hookway, B. Taylor (B. Togher - 15),S. Walker, K. Lewis (A. Benjamin), T. Faulkner-Bryant, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, A. Farrell (S. Jones - 40), M. Barber (N. Sands - 60), P. Squires (S. Hollingsdale - 60), C. Jaques, P. Fitzgerald (K. Davis - 50)

Report by: Mike MacLeod

Latest News | The Boars
3/25/2006 11:27:35 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Senior Team News & Info

Youth Team News & Info

Newsletter Sign Up