Sussex Rugby - Heathfield & Waldron RFC - Burgess Hill 1st's 10 Heathfield 1st's 31

	Saturday, January 13, 2007

Burgess Hill 1st's 10 Heathfield 1st's 31

Heathfield continued their run of wins with another excellent all round performance at Burgess Hill on Saturday. They had to overcome a sticky surface and strong opponents to run out winners by five tries to two. This was one of Heaths most testing games of the season and Burgess Hill often enjoyed superiority up front from their large pack who were particularly strong in the lineout and the driving maul. Heathfield however dominated the loose ball and their experienced No 8 Simon Wilson had one of his finest games for his club inspiring his younger colleagues in the back row to terrific deeds in snuffling out their opponent’s possession and winning fifty- fifty ball on the ground. With four quite outstanding back row forwards to choose from Heathfield are excelling in that area of play every week. That said the pack is susceptible to rolling mauls and only drew clear of their opponents in the final fifteen minutes of a very well contested game.

Heath won the toss and chose to play into a strong wind. And Burgess Hill scored early with a good try out wide after a deft kick ahead by their scrum half. Heathfield defended stoutly against the elements and were rewarded by two good tries, one by the rapidly improving Kobe Tonkin who completed a good handling movement on the left, and the other by Mike Hole again after good handling by the backs. Heath changed ends in the lead by one try but conceded ground early in the second half when Burgess Hill used the strength of their forwards to cross Heathfield`s line after a series of five metre scrums and lineouts .The next quarter of the game was a tense affair with neither side being able to force an advantage. The tackling on both sides was superb and each side had opportunities to take the lead.

Heathfield remained patient and kept their discipline with skipper Bryn Jones putting in some telling kicks so that his side played the final quarter of the game encamped in their opponents 22. Tries inevitably followed from Damien Pestell after a surging run through the Burgess Hill defence, an excellent pick up and drive run from the base of the scrum by Simon Wilson and finally a gem from the skipper himself running a beautiful line from twenty metres out and scoring near the posts.

Again the greenies played well as a team with everyone contributing to their victory. The front row was secure with young matt Ryan making a promising debut and Andre Douglas showing strongly when he came on in the second half. Mark Walker and Kobe Tonkin have developed into a strong and athletic second row and both kept the huge Burgess Hill locks well in check. The backs again worked really well as a unit, with Lee Vockins playing a courageous game at scrum half, and closed the game out in style.

Report by Mike de St Croix.

1st XV
1/13/2007 9:06:30 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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