It would be fair to say that there is a little bit of history between these two squads as a result of matches played whilst on tour with the Minis on the Isle of Wight over the past few years. The last meeting was at the Vectis Festival 2006 when Edenbridge, having received a mauling from Heathfield in the not so friendly Saturday game, duly eliminated them from the Tournament on the Sunday.

The match got under way just after the heavy rain started  but this did not seem to deter a very determined Heathfield side from going straight out and securing the first score within 2 minutes of the start with prop Daniel Halls powering over for his first try for the club.

This immediately settled the Heathfield forwards and straight from the re-start they regained possession and after some amazing passes & interchanges in midfield got the ball to Toby Warren who ran clear of the Edenbridge backs at their 10m line to touch down under the posts. Fly half Mathew Barber converted with a fine kick in the increasingly difficult conditions. Blindside Flanker JJ Redman was the next Heathfield player to score, powering his way through the Edenbridge backs leaving them trailing in his wake, there seemed little they could do to stop such a strong player. It was at this time that the coach decided it was time to ring some changes bringing on three substitutes, a luxury that he has not been afforded over the last few weeks through lack of players. The Heathfield team continued to pile on the pressure & when Daniel Halls popped the ball out of a maul to JJ Redman he didn’t need telling what to do next and powered over in the corner. Mathew Barber stepped up & coolly converted his kick to put the home side 24:0 up at half time.

Heathfield were now playing downhill for the second half and judging by the first half performance were expected to pile on more points. Sure enough George Wardle, playing today at inside centre, didn’t disappoint, appearing out of a mêlée on the Edenbridge 5m line to crash over the line for another try. Mathew Barber’s attempt at converting fell a little short but this was no disgrace as he was now kicking directly into the driving wind & rain. The game was turning into somewhat of a war of attrition with injuries to the Edenbridge side reducing them to 14 players. Heathfield’s Oscar Lacey deserves great credit for volunteering to make up the numbers for the opposing side after playing a full first half for Heathfield.

Bruno Halit seems to have taken to his new role out on the wing and the Heathfield backs are now realising that if they can feed the ball out quickly enough he is able to use his size and pace to good advantage. Sure enough he was next on the score sheet with a fine burst the corner from 25 metres out. By this time Heathfield realised that their best chance of scoring in the awful conditions was running, not kicking, therefore they waived their right to any further conversions in favour of getting on with the match. JJ Redman scored two further tries, Toby Warren added to his tally once more and Man of the Match Bruno Lomu Halit crowned the display with the final, 10^th try of the match right on the final whistle.

To their credit, the Edenbridge players remained resolute to the end and never gave up despite the awful conditions.

Coach Mike Barber had given the team a stern dressing down after last week’s performance against Cranbrook when despite winning they had almost let a commanding first half lead slip by the final whistle. The same could not be levelled at them this week and the team never once looked like letting the opposition breach their defences whilst at all times retaining their desire to increase the score right to the final whistle.

This was the third time Heathfield had racked up over fifty points in a match this season and even more impressively the fifth win with a clean sheet of the season.

A fine performance by the whole squad : Jack Fellows, Daniel Halls, Ben Smith, Ben Maltman, George Wardle, Reece Webb, JJ Redman, David Bayly, Harry Smith, Sam Saunters, Mathew Barber, Bruno Halit, Spencer Heath, Gregory Johnson, Sam Keylock, Toby Warren, Oscar Lacey, Joseph Hastings.

Match report by Richard Smith

3/4/2007 9:47:09 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)