August 2007

£50 B. Taylor

£25 P. Mercer

£10 B.Burdett

September 2007

£50 C. Goddard

£25 M. de St Croix

£10 A. Flint

October 2007

£50 P. Jarvis

£25 D. Rhodes

£10 D. Cooley

November 2007

£50 G. Green

£25 B. Burdett

£10 G. Woods

December 2007

£50 C. Hicks

£25 R. Streeter

£10 D. Rhodes

January 2008

£50 G. Woods

£25 P. Hookway

£10 D. Langdon

2/18/2008 12:28:28 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

For the second successive week Heath field won a convincing victory without conceding any points. On a firm pitch which was in ideal for running rugby the Greenies overwhelmed a moderate Crawley side completing a hat trick of wins against a team who had no answer to Heath fields powerful style of all round rugby.

By half time Heath field were 24 points in the lead from two converted and two unconverted tries. After ten minutes Adam Tennant drove over in the corner after pressure from forwards and backs. Matt skinner converted from far out and also converted an excellent try by Sam Thewlis after a fine break from Damien Pestell who had been involved in some sparkling moves early on. The excellent Heath field back with Simon Green enjoying a promising debut at No 8 was again dominating all phases of forward play and were consequently providing a sound platform for their backs. Two of the Greenies forwards combined for the third try with the ever improving Kobe Tonkin accepting a pass from hooker Rob Lawrence to score in the left corner. Just before half time the Heath field hooker added to his tally of tries this season by picking up a loose ball and using his speed and strength to cross the try line.

Crawley started the second half strongly and forced their way into their visitors 22. Heath field appeared to have settled into a quiet spell by their standards but however well their opposition pressure their line the Greenies hate having their line crossed. Their defence is one of their strengths and Crawley simply could not find a way through. After a somewhat abrasive period of play two Heath field players were shown yellow cards and just when Crawley were encamped on the try line Heath field were obliged to play with thirteen men. This predicament stirred the league leaders into action and their pack proceeded to march their opponents from one end of the field to the other with some fantastic forward drives. A premiership side would have been proud of the strength and technique of the limited Heath field pack. Fortunately when a set scrum was called they had Richard Cooley, one of Heath fields successes this season, to come on to replace Dan Hunter Evans who himself had had an outstanding game. Having planted themselves in their opponents 22 instead of their own, Heath field launched their backs for Eddie Armah to break through midfield at pace to score a splendid try under the posts. Crawley were now broken and skipper Bryn Jones who had played his usual steady and powerful game broke to the open side and scored a solo try in the corner.

This was another splendid win for Heath field who travel To St Francis club in Crawley for the final of the Sussex Shield against Pulborough on Sunday. Coach Dave Jones expects to travel with a full squad and supporters should contact the club to check on travel arrangements. Kick Off is likely to be at 2pm.

Report by Mike de St Croix

2/16/2008 12:22:42 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars faced an Eastbourne team hurting from a surprise defeat against Cinque Ports the week before. It was clear they meant business with a large and surprisingly mobile pack taking the ball to the Boars from the start. With the Boars scrum also under pressure it was clear that the teams would run completely different tactics throughout the match. Eastbourne wanted to play a slow game close to the forwards and the Boars wanted to play a fast game out wide.

Kenny "KFC" Lewis at the lineout...

The first 15 minutes was evenly contested with both sides making half breaks and defences looking strong. The Boars changed this when they won the ball in midfield and Dave Rhodes popped a pass to the blindside for man of the match Mike Macleod to run onto. Macleod offloaded to Brady Burdett who drew in the last defender and passed to Full Back Rob Woods who outpaced the cover defence to score between the posts. Rhodes converted to make the score 7-0.

the Club Chairman has still got it...

This stung Eastbourne who pressured hard until a big clearance kick and chase got the Boars a lineout 10 metres out from the Eastbourne line. Scrum half Rhodes caught the Eastbourne defence dozing when he took the ball in himself and jinked past the sleepy defence to score in the corner. To their credit Eastbourne came back even harder and pressured the Boars line for several minutes. During this phase they were awarded a 5 metre scrum and used their considerable weight advantage to good effect by pushing the Boars back over their line to take the score to 12-5.

Eastbourne continued to pound away through their forwards and the Boars defended stoutly. Another foray into the Eastbourne half gained the Boars a vital score just before halftime. The Boars forwards recycled quick ball and it went quickly through the backs hands and out to full back Woods who snuck in at the corner to leave the score at 17-5 at halftime.

Brady puts away Simon "Twinckle Toes" Hollingdale

The Boars now had the advantage of the wind and used this to pin the Eastbourne forwards back as much as possible. This worked well until blindside flanker Ian Schleider was yellow carded and a poor clearance kick let the Eastbourne pack execute their rolling maul close to the line and the Boars did not defend well enough to stop the score. 17-10 and the game was back in the balance.

The decisive score came with 15 minutes left to play when replacement full back Sam Goatcher came into the line and scored near the corner in front of the clubhouse. The Boars continued to work hard to deny Eastbourne a way back into the game and most of the last 10 minutes was spent in the opponents half. There was great relief when the referees whistle went for the end of the match leaving the Boars top of the league.

Man of the Match was Mike Macleod for a gutsy performance as prop and for doing the ‘hard work’ throughout the match.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp (C. Ambrosino – 50), B. Togher, P. Hookway (P. de Bruin – 60), T. Rose, I. Schlieder (D. Bird – 65), K. Lewis (B. Groves – 75), O. Robertshaw, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, D. Hesketh, A. Farrell, S. Hollingdale, N. Sands, R. Woods (S. Goatcher – 40)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

2/16/2008 4:55:23 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield put on a superb display of all round attacking rugby on a difficult sticky surface at Burgess Hill. The Greenies had experienced problems with beating Burgess Hill in their first league encounter but as far as this game was concerned there was only one side in contention from first whistle to last. Many complimentary things have rightfully been written about this Heath field side but in this match the team hit a peak as a unit and showed how they have reached this stage of the season with an unbeaten record.

The structure of Heathfield`s performance was well nigh perfect. Their forwards quickly achieved supremacy in the set pieces and were frequently first to the breakdown where the back row took charge often winning turnover ball. Both Simon Wilson and George Leney are enjoying outstanding seasons and once again they were the instigators of many of Heathfield`s moves. Joining them in the back row Lee Vokins did not suffer in comparison and made a thorough nuisance of himself to the Burgess Hill half backs. Mark Walker, Kobe Tonkin and Wilson were dominant in the lineout and won a lot of possession from their opponents throws in. The front row simply took charge as always and veteran prop Tim Evans had possibly his best game in a Heath field shirt. His speed in the loose and his handling skills were a revelation and his fitness was certainly on a par with his younger colleagues. Hooker Rob Lawrence had another splendid game and added to his tally of tries this season.

Having established forward supremacy the Greenies went to work on their opposition with a stunning exhibition of fast and powerful running. Will Christian distributed well and made some good runs close to his pack. Skipper Bryn Jones chose his options skilfully and drove Burgess Hill on to the defence with some probing kicks. Damien Pestell and Matt Skinner had their best game of the season as a centre combination and the speedy wingers capitalised on the all round teamwork  with Ed Armah scoring three tries and Adam Tennant always in the action. Behind the three quarters Will Drinkwater was a model of consistency at full back and “Mono” Thewlis looked full of class when he replaced Armah shortly before the end of the game.

First half scores came from Armah(2) flying down the wing and Simon Wilson, capitalising from a line out steal by “Kiwi” Walker and hooker rob Lawrence taking an excellent pass from prop Evans. In the second half the ubiquitous Evans delivered another lovely pass for Ed Armah to continue his tryfest  and the centre pairing scored a try a piece with Matt Skinner converting both.

Coach David Jones was delighted with his team’s performance which will give them great confidence for their remaining games. This Saturday they travel to Crawley for a league match and the following Sunday the Greenies supporters will follow them to St Francis ground in Crawley where they will defend the Sussex Shield against Pulborough.

Report by Mike de St Croix

2/9/2008 3:05:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

On a lovely sunny day the Boars enjoyed a rare outing on the main pitch at Cross-in-Hand but struggled to play flowing rugby. The first half started well with early scores from Simon Hollingdale and Rob Woods but descended into a catalogue of unforced errors by the Boars and Crowborough came back into the game with stand off Ed Radford pulling the strings. A converted try by Crowborough took the score to 10-7 and the game was in the balance before a try from Sam Barrow, converted by Dave Rhodes put the Boars in 17-7 up at half time.

Will he or wont he? Just because it looks like he is going to pass it doesnt mean he will...

The Boars made several changes at half time and that seemed to wake them up. The forwards began to be more direct in their running and began to break the line before offloading. The backs responded by catching passes that were previously going to ground. This led to a flurry of unanswered tries with Woods adding two more for his hat trick and single scores for Andy Foster, Brady Burdett and Mike Barber. The score probably flattered the Boars but the points were put in the bag none the less.

Schleider takes the ball at a line out...

Man of the Match was number 8 Sam Barrow with Julian Wates pushing him very close. A special mention must go to Keith Davies who was lent to the Crowborough side for this match and put in an abrasive and gutsy performance including a ‘cooling off’ period in the sin bin.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. La Roche (J. Sharp), J. Geesin (A. Sutton), J. Parsons (S. Walker), T. Rose (B. Groves), A. Farrell (I. Schleider), K. Lewis (D. Bird), S. Barrow, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, J. Wates, D. Hesketh, S. Hollingdale, A. Foster, R. Woods (M. Barber)

Match report by Mike MacLeod

2/9/2008 9:43:49 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

A mixed team of Boars and Development team players enjoyed a close game of rugby on a cold but bright and sunny day. Early scores from Duncan Hesketh and rob Woods put Heathfield in a good position before St Francis really woke up. When St Francis capitalised on a Boars mistake to score the game got interesting. Heathfield were relieved when Nick Seddon scored and more so when Jack Bayley got another on half time to take the score to 24-5.

Hesketh charges through to score early on...

Kenny "KFC" Lewis takes good ball at the lineout...

The second half started well for St Francis with two early tries during a period when Heathfield went down to 13 men due to an injury and a sin binning. Once restored to 14 men Heathfield were very thankful for a fine score from Jim Cumming after a penalty was awarded on the Francis 22. After this St Francis piled on the pressure and the Boars limited St Francis to a single try in this 20 minute session as the clock wound down. With the final move of the game Levi Willis made the score more respectable as he finished off a good backs move.

Heathfield under pressure at the scrum...

Man of the Match was all round action man Chris Jones.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Bayley, C. Jones, J. Cumming, I. Schleider, S. Green, K. Lewis, S. Barrow, M. Jaques, S. Goatcher, J. Wates, D. Hesketh, L. Willis, N. Seddon, R. Woods

Match report by Mike MacLeod

2/2/2008 9:27:00 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

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)     

Here is a picture of the Development Team prior to a fixture earlier in the season.

2/1/2008 6:35:35 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

This Heathfield side have never beaten Hove but all that changed at Cross-in-Hand on Sunday.

Heathfield took the lead after 10 minutes with a well taken penalty by Mike Abbott but neither side were able to dominate and the game was a very stop start affair. However mid way through the half, the ball travelled down the Hove backs and following a few weak tackles they went over to take the lead. The conversion was kicked to make the score 3-7.

Heathfield rallied and started to string some phases together. Every time Hove gained possession, the back row of Ben Darcy, Matt Halls and Greg Salmon got amongst them, causing problems and Hove were unable to get any continuity.

The rucking of the home side was also excellent, particularly Larry Platt, Tom Watkins and Alex Scott who turned over the visitors on several occasions. Hooker Tom Keylock also had an excellent game, on any loose ball.

From a ruck on Hove's 22, a cleverly orchestrated backs move saw centre Charlie Dagwell burst onto the ball and dive over. Abbott slotted the conversion. Heathfields tails were up !  Minutes later, following great aggressive tackling by Halls, Hove conceded a scrum close to their line. Captain Darcy passed to right wing Ash Sutton who dived in at the corner.

Just before half time a brilliant drop goal by the Hove fly half brought the score back to 15-10.

It was all Heathfield in the second half though with strong running and excellent hands particularly by Wings Wayne Granich and Sutton, saw good yardage gained. Clever "pick and go's" by Scott, Keylock and Darcy meant that the Hove back row were always occupied and this gave the Heathfield backs more time and space. Fraser Rogers came on in the second row and he immediately got into the game by wrapping up one of the Hove centres and carried him 10 yards up the field

A long kick by Abbott forced the Hove defence to kick out and from the resulting lineout another clever move resulted in Oli Hancock with half his own pack behind him, drive him over for a much needed score.

The confidence in the Heathfield side was now for all to see. Another backs move saw Jeremy Burdett side step and jink his way 30 yards right through the heart of the Hove defence and the ruck was formed. The ball was recyled and Larry Platt was on hand to drive over and score the fourth try to earn the much needed bonus point. It also sealed a wonderful win and keeps the Heathfield U16s in the title chase.

Match Report by Bradley Bundett

1/27/2008 5:47:42 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The second league game of 2008 saw Heathfield still sitting pretty at the top of the league table, however an away trip to Newick could have proved tricky.  The game started with Heath playing into a strong wind and having to run everything, something that both the Heathfield wingers took full advantage of.

In the first couple of minutes a strong run by Levi Willis on the right wing saw him put Heathfield in the lead with a touchdown in the corner.  Both sets of forward were contesting a hard fought game, but Heath knew if they could move the ball quickly their backs would capitalise.  Dave Groom on the left wing scored two quick tries first with good ball passed down the backline, then from a quick tap penalty by Jack Bayley who offloaded to Dave in the tackle.

Imbetween the tries Newick scored a penalty, and the half ended with Heathfield 20-3 up.  The second half saw Heathfield pick the pace up with the forwards making some excellent runs especially from the skipper Jim Cummings and back row Simon Green.  The pressure told and there was a typical Jack Bayley try, picking up a loose ball and running half the length of the pitch to score and a Jim Cummings try from a quick tap penalty running half a yard to score.  Sam Goatcher converted both tries.  There continued more pressure on the Newick line and the fitness of the Heath pack was taking its toll on Newick who conceded a penalty try after persistent infringement, Goatcher converted.

With 15 minutes to go it was good to see a familiar face introduced from the replacements bench, Joe Reilly started his first game back after a long injury lay off.  He was quickly into the action and then a flowing forwards and backs move saw quick ball go out to Goatcher who threw an outrageous dummy and cut inside the defence to score under the posts, he converted to take the score to 48-3.  The score line was flattering and Newick made it a hard fought game, however another W sees the development team stay top of the league.

Match Report by Shaun Hipgrave

1/26/2008 5:44:21 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

The Boars travelled to Hastings to play the ‘new boys’ of Cinque Ports without a tight head prop or obvious front row replacement. Veteran second row converted to loose head prop Mike MacLeod offered to convert once more and said he would try to hold up the tight head equipped only with a short lesson from injured Joe Geesin.

The Boars looked sluggish during the warm up and started the match in similar fashion. Any ball won seemed to come out slowly and the Boars backs did not seem to be passing with any fluency. The set pieces were evenly contested with Kenny Lewis dominant at the front of the lineout on his return from honeymoon and the scrum evenly contested. Cinque Ports were playing better than expected with several dangerous attacked snuffed out by good tackles.

OOH look Brady making a tackle!! well more of a hug actually...

The deadlock was broken by Dave Rhodes following up a kick ahead to touch down by the posts and then convert his own score. This seemed to settle the Boars a bit and a good spell of pressure followed. During this period the ‘disaster scenario’ struck when prop Nick Kerr injured his shoulder in a tackle and had to go off. Come the hour, come the man and Paul Hookway stepped up and offered his services and while he may have had more comfortable afternoons he did a good solid job in that unfamiliar role.

Shortly afterwards a well worked backs move saw the ball travel wide to winger Simon Hollingdale who broke a couple of tackles around the 22 metre line and sprinted through to score. This score was not converted and the score stayed 0-12 until half time.

Lineout agianst the head...

From the kick off it was clear that Ports wanted this match and were heartened when their number 8 collected and took off on a run reminiscent of the Boars own Dave Cook. He went through several weak tackles in a 30 metre rumble and even though he was eventually stopped CP had established good field position and they were determined to gain points. Several phases of play later CP established a maul that sucked in too many Boars defenders and a try ensued. This was converted to take the score to 7-12 and raised the possibility that all the hard work against East Grinstead might be thrown away.

Paul "Handsome Shreck" Hookway slows down the 8 so Tony can get stuck in...

Luckily this score seemed to wake the Boars up - in particular the backs who began to make better use of the ball they received. The decisive score came at the end of a 3 phase move (well done to Dan Bird for a good recycle and pass) when a determined Brady Burdett carried two tacklers over to score a try he then converted.

Next came the best try of the match when hard working inside centre Julian Wates dummied (You sure!! slipped more like...) the pass and rumbled into the acres of open space that had opened up and made the 30 metres to the line in great style. The Boars were not significantly trouble after this and the icing was put on the cake when Burdett went over in the corner for his second and the Boars fifth try of the match. Cinque Ports must be congratulated for their progress this season and for the team spirit they are building but the Boars did enough to come away with the victory they needed.

Man of the Match was Paul Hookway for saving a 10 point penalty by standing in as prop and putting in an excellent ball carrying performance throughout the match.

Boars Team – N. Kerr (S. Barrow - 20), J. Sharp, M. MacLeod, P. Hookway, T. Rose, M. Brown (D. Bird – 50), K. Lewis (B. Groves – 65), J. Parsons, D. Rhodes, B. Burdett, J. Wates, A. Farrell, S. Hollingdale, K. Davies, M. Barber

Match report by Mike MacLeod

1/26/2008 5:37:26 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

HEATHFIELD & WALDRON RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB (“the Club”)

NOTICE is hereby given that an Extraordinary General Meeting of the above-named company will be held at The Club House, The Hardy Roberts Ground, Cross - in - Hand, East Sussex TN21 0TA on Monday 18 February, 2008 at 8.00 pm when the following resolutions will be proposed as a Special Resolutions namely:-

1.    SPECIAL RESOLUTION

“THAT the provisions of the memorandum of association of the Club with respect to its objects be altered by:

(i) the addition of the words ‘to provide facilities for and promote participation of the whole of the community in the sport of rugby union;’ as a new clause 3 (i) and by the consequential re-numbering of all following clauses;

(ii) the deletion of the words ‘make any donations in cash or assets or’ from clause 3 (10);

(iii) the deletion of clause 3 (13) and the consequential re-numbering of all following clauses; and

(iv) the deletion of the words ‘Charitable Organisation with similar objectives’ from clause 7 and the insertion in their place of the words ‘registered Community Amateur Sports Club with like objectives or to the Rugby Football Union for use by them in community related sports’. “

2.    SPECIAL RESOLUTION

“THAT the provisions of the articles of association of the Club be amended by the insertion as a new regulation 12 of the following words:

‘Membership of the Club shall be open to all persons irrespective of ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs; or of age, sex or disability except as a necessary consequence of the requirements of rugby as a particular sport. The Club may refuse membership or expel from membership only for good and sufficient cause, such as conduct or character likely to bring the Club or sport into disrepute. Appeal against such a decision may be made to the Club’s members and decided by a majority vote.’

and by the consequential re-numbering of all following regulations.”

Dated the 24 January 2008

Tim Ball
Secretary

Registered office:- 
      
Fifth Floor
Old Change House
128 Queen Victoria Street
London EC4V 4BJ        

Note:- A member entitled to attend and vote at the meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote instead of him; a proxy need not be a member.

1/24/2008 12:25:54 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)