Heathfield toured South London on Saturday and came away with a very satisfactory win in their second practice match. Old Dunstonians are in the league above Heathfield but this was not apparent with an emphatic five tries to nil result for the visitors. At this stage of the season both teams were inevitably short of several key individuals so it would be unwise to read too much into this – however some new faces for Heathfield seized their opportunities to make a strong case for future selection and the established players all looked in good condition and eager for more success.
Playing up the steep slope Heathfield collected an early try from a lineout near the home line, almost inevitably scored by Rob Lawrence (0-5). It soon became apparent that the home front row was in for a difficult afternoon. Richard Cooley had his prop in trouble from the start in spite of the usual big difference in size and new recruit Jim Davies had a very solid day on the other side of the scrum.
Another of the new faces, Ben Foy, was making an eye-catching contribution all over the field giving coach Dave Jones some pleasant selection difficulties in the back five in the weeks to come.
Old D’s came back and occasionally reached the Heathfield 22 but the defence proved adequate – just. They had some sizeable players who looked dangerous coming down the hill but green tackling normally prevented them from doing much damage. Shortly before half time a standard backs move from a set scrum put Sam Thewlis in under the posts, converted by Bryn Jones (0-12).
After half time Heathfield took immediate advantage of the slope to set up a rolling maul that gained some 20 yards before quick hands put Rob Perry, another new face, over for an impressive try, duly converted (0-19). Perry later moved to scrum-half, his preferred position, and showed skilful touches and excellent involvement. Then in more open play Lawrence created space for Seb Jones who duly went in at the corner, again converted (0-26).
In the last quarter both teams made a few replacements and Grant Stewart showed his well-being with some pleasing contributions. Kobe Tonkin muscled his way over for another try, also converted (0-33). The final score came when Seb Jones pounced on an error near the home try line and Bryn Jones rounded off a very satisfactory performance with yet another conversion (0-40).
Next Saturday (29 August 3pm) Heathfield have a potentially more difficult final practice match against London South Africa. This should be a very competitive game and will be preceded at 1pm by a match between the visiting team from Forges-Les-Eaux, the French village twinned with Heathfield, and a Heathfield side brimful of experience, banter and skill (not necessarily in that order).
1st XV | Latest News
8/22/2009 10:01:06 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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