Heathfield 3rd team took to a very boggy and slippery Waldron field on Saturday to play their latest Sussex 2 league fixture against Brighton 3rd team. Last week Brighton had convincingly beaten Uckfield 2nds and so Heathfield were under no elision that this would be an easy game.
Thankfully the rain held off but the ground conditions made it hard for both sides to run with the ball and so most of the action resulted in a close forward battle. Brighton were well drilled up front particularly with the rolling maul, but Heathfield had the edge in the scrums and the line out and this gave them superior possession for most of the first half playing up the Waldron slope.
John Parsons is gets caught as Heathfield attack up the slope at Waldron...
In particular Tom Ingram kicked well to keep the action out of the home sides’ half and Jamie Ward Smith was tackling well to stem any Brighton attacks but even given their greater possession Heathfield lacked the final killer pass or move to turn this into points and just when you thought a score would come a mistake would be made and Brighton would clear their lines. Mike Shallcross was unlucky to miss a penalty attempt and then against the run of play Brighton broke and a silly miss tackle close to the scrum and a good supporting line saw them score under the posts and then convert, 0-7.
At half time Heathfield felt a bit hard done by but knew that going down the slope at Waldron is worth at least two tries and so it proved. Again in the second half Heathfield dominated territory and possession and Brighton had very little of the ball. When they did get a foot hold Ashley Sutton did very well to snub out their fast Italian winger and the forwards, in particular John Parsons, props Will Greaves and Nick “Furry” Evans made the first up tackles count and stopped any Brighton momentum.
Good line out lead to some excellent possession for Heathfield in tricky conditions...
At last Heathfield turned their pressure into points and levelled the scores with a fine try from fly half Tom Ingram. Slipping through the first tackle in the Brighton 22 and then having the strength to muscle over through the remaining covering tackles. Mike Shallcross slotted the conversion in front of the posts on the second attempt after Brighton were penalised for shouting on his first go, 7-7.
Heathfield pushed on for the win. Substitutes came on and made a difference, in particular Ian Schlieder and Charlie Jones. Julian “that’s all my good kicks gone” Wates tried to chip the defence to no avail and Dan Heyler was unlucky to get held up just short of the line. The forwards were also held up on several occasions and credit must go to Brighton for the way they doggedly defended. The break came aptly from scrum half Tom Keylock who had been excellent throughout. A quick snipe down the blind saw the covering tacklers take the dummy to the wing and he scurried over. Mike Shallcross kicked the conversion given the home side victory, 14-7.
The scrum was strong and Scrum Half Tom Keylock did well against an experienced opposition...
Credit must go to Heathfield for the way they battled to win this game against a very good Brighton side. The team showed that not only can they run the ball when the conditions allow but that they also have a plan b and can muscle and wrestle with teams when required. Their were a couple of confrontations throughout the game, one involving the whole team in the second half but the way the Heathfield players responded, showing discipline to walk away and listening to their captain after the event was a credit to their captain and them all and something the referee praised after the game.
Man of the match this week was between three players. Tom Ingram was excellent, took control of the game, kicked well and obviously scored an important try, Tom Keylock at scrum half boxed kicked well but then chased the kicks relentlessly. He also scored an important try but looked lively throughout the game. However this week’s man of the match (selected by his fellow team mates) was Will Greaves for his strength around the park, his rucking and tackling and his super work in the scrum.
Match Report by Simon Hollingdale
Team: Will Greaves (Mike Powderly – 70), Chris Ambrasino, Nick Evans, John Parsons, (Kenny Lewis – 60) Mike Dilley, Alex Hodge, Jamie Ward-Smith, Mike Brown, (Ian Schlieder – 55), Tom Keylock, Tom Ingram, Julian Wates, James Usherwood, Ashley Sutton, Dan Helyer, (Charlie Jones – 65), Mike Shallcross. (Ben Cox, Simon Hollingdale, – not used).
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12/7/2009 8:29:56 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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