Heathfield cruised into their second successive final of the Sussex Shield Competition with a sound all-round performance at Cross-In-Hand.  Having beaten Crawley earlier in the season by 27 points, this was an almost identical performance based on the home side controlling the set pieces, playing their effective driving game and then finishing well.

Crawley played with the brisk chill breeze in the first half but handicapped themselves by catching the referee’s eye far too often, mainly for fringing, with a total penalty count of 14-3 against Crawley.  This excellent discipline by Heathfield is a distinct improvement from earlier in the season.

Against the wind Heathfield still managed to play a large part of the first half in the visitors’ territory and this pressure was rewarded with a penalty by Matt Skinner. Heathfield played some fine rugby with their now familiar well-supported driving and good handling.  This was supplemented by one eye-catching run with a kick ahead and retrieving catch by Matt Skinner.

Crawley did manage to reach the Heathfield 22 on a few occasions but failed to come away with any points. Then Heathfield again drove up the field and Eddie Armah finished a fine passage of play in the left-hand corner.  This was his first game back after an extended break for injury and on several occasions he showed the pace and skill that will trouble many more defences.  The half-time score of 8-0 was generally considered satisfactory by the home supporters given the conditions.

The Heathfield lineout had probably its best game this season with consistent catches at impressive height providing quick and secure ball.  Crawley have a sizeable front row but Tim Evans, Rob Lawrence and Dan Hunter-Evans more than matched them and came away with several strikes against the head.  Dan in particular had a massive day in dominating his prop and providing critically solid lifting in the lineout.

Crawley competed well throughout the game, particularly in the pack and their back row were effective at keeping pressure on Heathfield who had the majority of possession.

Not long into the second half Matt Skinner collected another penalty (11-0) while Crawley missed one.  A sustained period of pressure by Heathfield now resulted in another well-taken try by Ed Armah who was put away by a classy pass from Rob Lawrence. (16-0)

The cold wind and dropping temperature made handling increasingly difficult.  There was little doubt about the result by now and the rest of the game was marked by frequent substitutions as both sides used all of the seven replacements available to them.  One of these was Kobe Tonkin who now scored a try from close range after repeated Heathfield attacks. (21-0)

Victory was sealed with a try by veteran Rob Streeter who dived over near the posts to a noisy reception from the home supporters, converted by Matt Skinner.

These two sides meet again in two weeks time in a Sussex 1 League game at Crawley but before then Heathfield travel to Burgess Hill for another league game (9^th Feb 2.30pm kick off).  Given the closeness of the game between these two sides recently Heathfield will need at least to maintain the standard of play shown this week.

Report by Phil Bell

2/2/2008 6:21:50 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)