Heathfield continued their recent good form with a decisive eight tries to none victory over Hastings. Use of the new pitch has encouraged them to play exciting and pacy rugby with tries coming from all parts of the team but especially on the wing where Sam ‘Mono’ Thewlis again collected three. Nonetheless the last two tries were scored by the back row in support of the backs.
Hastings have had some better form since Christmas but they were clearly second-best on the day. They managed to exert some pressure on Heathfield at various points but the well-organised green wall are rightly proud of their defensive record and were confident enough to run the ball out from behind the try line at one point. Man of the Match Ben Foy has been increasingly influential recently in the inconspicuous hard work done by the pack in defence and he was outstanding in this match.
Scoring started early as Thewlis squeezed in at the right hand corner and Sam Goatcher converted impressively. A few minutes later the home pack drove a maul over the line for Tom Pritchard to claim the try (12-0).
The home pack had a distinct edge in the scrummage and at the breakdown although lineouts were more even. Plentiful possession allowed all of the home three-quarters to show pace and skill which worried the Hastings defence throughout the game.
A well struck penalty by Goatcher was soon followed by a classy solo effort for a try by Matt Skinner who was at scrum-half for the day as Lee Vockins needed to rest a sore knee (22-0).
Pritchard was replaced by Ollie Robertshaw because of injury so Ollie Smith moved to hooker. This did no harm to the scrummaging effectiveness as they immediately took one against the head for Skinner to draw the defence one way and then switch play back for a clear overlap well-finished by Thewlis (27-0). This tight dominance was continued when Jim Davies replaced an injured Chris Watton.
The second half also started with an early score as Ollie Brown capitalised on a lovely break and pass by Damien Pestell, again converted by Goatcher who soon followed it up with another penalty (34-0).
After twenty minutes Goatcher was replaced by Bryn Jones who was returning from a broken arm and this did nothing to inhibit the home backs who continued to attack from anywhere. Tom Sheffield had made numerous breaks and one such attack had only been foiled by a late interception. Now he again sliced through the midfield and this time Thewlis was on hand for his third try, converted by Skinner (44-0).
Sheffield was again the instigator of the next try as Simon Wilson arrived in support on the left wing and had too much power for the defence (49-0).
To their credit Hastings now had an extended period of pressure on the home try line albeit without any reward.
The scoring was completed when another Heathfield backs move was completed as Brown found George Leney in support (54-0). Brown is highly effective in attack but for the second week running his clinical tackling also caught the eye as he snuffed out attacks by Hastings.
Next Saturday (13th Feb 2.30) Heathfield visit Folkestone where they have had a patchy record recently.
1st XV | Latest News
2/6/2010 5:44:05 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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