Chichester 10 Heathfield 8

Heathfield’s recent winning run came to an end in this Sussex Trophy Semi Final match which was a close, competitive, at times niggly, affair in which the home team survived late serious pressure to progress to the final.

Earlier Chichester had reported the pitch to be frozen and therefore unplayable.  Some metaphorical heat was applied by the Sussex competition organiser and Heathfield eventually arrived in bright sunshine to find an excellent playing surface.

Three of the Heathfield squad had previously played for Chichester and were given a rugged reception by the home players and supporters alike.  Chichester are currently leading the RFU South West League III i.e. a division above Heathfield – so the home side would have been expected to win.  This was not apparent in the opening exchanges and after Chichester missed an early kickable penalty, Heathfield reduced the home supporters to temporary silence as, just in front of them, Eddie Armah secured a Chichester cross-kick, feeding Sam Thewlis who kicked ahead and Matt Skinner beat the defence to put Heathfield ahead 0-5.

Ten minutes later a high tackle gave the visitors a kickable penalty and Skinner gratefully accepted the opportunity (0-8).

The close quarter exchanges were fierce with the large Chichester forwards proving slightly more adept at playing the referee in that phase.  The home side lineout was very effective while Heathfield were handicapped by an injury to second row Grant Stewart in the very first play of the game and he was eventually replaced by Tim Evans at half time.

The Heathfield front row of Richard Cooley, Rob Lawrence and Chris Watton gave the large Chichester props a very uncomfortable afternoon with Cooley in particular outplaying all three of the sizeable individuals who faced him during the game – his superior technique completely nullified their apparent physical advantages.

Just before half time Chichester at last registered on the scoreboard with a penalty (3-8) but they had rarely threatened to cross the green line.  Watton was replaced by Sean Hammond at half time and he continued the good work up front.

However the Chichester coaches appeared to have given their team a serious talking-to at the interval and they restarted in a very focussed and direct manner, with their forwards driving over for a try which was converted, crucially (10-8). Heathfield coach Dave Jones felt that this was a soft try that would normally have been prevented and this lapse in concentration by the visiting defence proved to be the decisive moment.

Another score by Chichester at this point might have put the result beyond doubt. However Heathfield refused to give in and gradually worked their way up-field and had several periods of intense pressure on the home try line without managing that all-important score.  Right wing Armah, one of the ex-Chichester players, gave his old team some nervous moments as he looked very threatening in this period but on several occasions the ball did not bounce kindly for him.

It would be overstating the situation to say that Chichester were hanging on at the end but they never seriously threatened the Heathfield line again after their try.  The last few minutes were tense for both sets of supporters but the home defence proved to be adequate.

Heathfield have now played close matches against two teams from higher leagues in recent weeks – beating Lewes and losing here.  Confidence is building that, if promotion is achieved, the team will be competitive at the next level.  This will only be relevant if they continue to perform in the remaining league matches and next Saturday they have a difficult visit to Horsham (kick off 2.30).
 

2/10/2009 10:13:25 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

BRILLIANT U16's DO IT AGAIN AT BURGESS HILL

Burgess Hill and Shoreham U16s against Heathfield and Waldron U16s at Burgess Hill 11:00 kick off

League game 0 – 40 after 30 minutes. Full time 0 - 72

A bright crisp Sunday morning had Heathfield taking to the pitch for the first time as a team since before Christmas. Against the combined forces of Burgess Hill and Shoreham (BHS), these teams having merged earlier in the season in order to keep U16 rugby alive at their respective clubs.

This was Heathfield’s first game since before Christmas, with the resent bad weather forcing the cancellation of their fixtures. Unfortunately due to illness and other commitments the home side where unable to field a recognised front row and so the game was played with scourge of all forwards, the uncontested scum.

Heathfield started the game playing down hill and into the sun. Despite the lack of recent match play Heathfield under the captaincy of Jack Warren were up for the game and started by taking the ball deep into the BHS half. With no scrums to worry about the Heathfield forwards we able to relax and use all of their energy in open play. Good example of this came when 20 Stone 6,2” Prop forward Fraser Goatcher took the ball at pace from just inside the BHS 22 and clearing all before him went over the line between the posts.  This set the standard for the rest of the half with both forwards and backs working well off each other, in both open play and set piace to keep the score board ticking over until the half time whistle had Heathfield 43 up. So with the league lost the home team choose to play on and with great determination put up a spirited defence. Heathfield took the opportunity to try some new moves recently learnt on the training pitch as well as some creative player positioning. Full time came with BHS beaten but in no way despondent and congratulations must go out to the boys and their coaches for a fine example of true grit and determination and we hope to see them again next season.

Playing for Heathfield were

 Ed Boulton, Miles Carter, James Davies (MP) Fraser Goatcher (2 tries), Will Jones, Cas Kingdon (2 tries),, Ed Koops, Alex Lester, Owen Lewis (1 try),  Will Maxfield, Tom Nudd (1 try), Oli Stables, Ethan Walker (3 triess), Jack Warren (6 cons), Ben Wickens, Joe Wood (2 tries), 

2/9/2009 11:24:10 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

COME AND PAMPER YOURSELF AT THE CLUB 13.2.09

Forgotten Valentines Day is round the Corner????  Don't know what to get for your loved one?  Can't be bothered to trawl round the shops for that special gift???

Then luckily Your Club has come to the rescue.  Not only can you buy sexy tasteful lingerie, delightful jewellery and loads of other lovely things - but you can also have a pint (or two), see your mates, and whatever match is on the TV - whilst you buy!! BRILLIANT!(Rumour has it that Ann Summers will also be there!)  So lads come to the pamper evening at the Clubhouse on Friday 13th Feb - where all your Valentine present problems could be solved.........

For the lovely ladies who would like to come along.....  see all of the above plus there will be waxing and nails and even tarrot card readings!

See you there on the 13th February - 7.30pm onwards

2/5/2009 9:49:53 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Junior Quiz Night Success at H&WRFC

Friday 30th January saw the clubhouse packed to overflowing for the Junior Quiz Night.  With 11 teams of 6 taking part the atmosphere was brilliant.  It was great to see teams from all age groups of the Junior Section of the club come together to make up this fantastic event. Over by the door there were the Beauties and the Beast (Mr. Wardle) ! who didn't put off the H3 Team and stuck over by the bar were the No Table Team - that's how busy it was!!

Despite the heckling from the bosterous crowd, the event was ably compared by Helen Goatcher and Alison Bending (they also put together the questions) and the evening was nicely rounded off with plates of chilli!

A great evening and over £200 made for the Club.  Thank you to everyone who took part to make the evening a success!

2/5/2009 9:29:37 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Boars Sweet Revenge

Heathfield Boars 19 vs Chichester III 15

The Boars had a lot to prove after a terrible trip to Chichester last year, turning up late due to traffic problems and subsequently getting beaten badly by a strong Chichester team.

Both teams looked quite evenly matched, with the Boars selecting a few younger heads to mix in with the more experienced players. It was Chichester who struck first though by winning the toss and decided to play up the slope at Waldron.

Rory gets the forwards going with a rumble...

The Boars started well and making good use of the slope controlled the initial play with forwards winning good ball in the line out and scrums, giving the backs a chance to attack. But Chichester defended well and from some loose play their dangerous winger managed to step through several week tackles in the backs to score against the run of play. The convertion was missed and this was something that would come back to haunt them later on.

Lee keylock turns defence into attack with a strong handoff...

Heathfield didn’t lose their focus and got straight back to it, the now dominant forwards really pressuring the Chichester line. After some simple but very effective pick and drive rugby the boars got to the Chichester 5 metres line and then it was down to Tony “Too Tall” Rose to pick up and dive for the line right under the posts. The simple yet very important conversion by Kenny “KFC” Lewis put the Boars in a deserved lead.

"Too Tall" Tony dives between the posts to get the Boars right back in it!

That’s how the half finished 7-5 and anyone who has played at Waldron will know that the slope is usually worth more than a 2 point advantage so Heathfield still had it all to do.

Our referee was the same one who had refereed our game against East Grinstead earlier in the season. He seems to have a problem with hard physical rugby which is a problem when you’re a fat old centre with no pace, that’s pretty much all you have left! But both teams gave him no real problems and he had been at least consistent during the first half. At least he didn’t call me JUSTIN this time!

The second half started disappointingly for the home team, as usual they seemed to be half asleep as the Chichester forwards drove to the line; then some good hands [and an outrageous knock on] saw Chichester crash over for a deserved try.

We refocused and after some strong words from Rory we seemed to wake up and get back into the game. The backs had several good runs and eventually they seemed to make this count when Simon “Twinkle Toes” Hollingdale had one of his trade mark storming runs up the side line before offloading to Pete McEvoy who sped for the corner but under pressure from two defenders couldn’t quite ground the ball. But this was just a chance for the Heathfield forwards to show their dominance. The resulting scrum was driven towards the line and the and controlled beautifully before Ian “It has to be PINK” Schlieder, who had only just come on the pitch, touched down from the number 8 spot. An excellent conversion from KFC from wide out on the right gave the Boars a 4 point lead and really kept up the pressure on Chichester.

great defensive work from the Heathfield forwards...

With both teams desperately trying to score again the defence was good from both sides and several strong attacks were snuffed out at the last minute. It was again Chichester who got the break through as a combined forwards and back move drove down the hill and wore down the Heathfield defence, allowing them to score in the corner. But again Chichester were unable to convert and so the lead was only one point at 14-15, giving Heathfield 10 minutes to try and get back up the hill to score again.

From the restart the ball was kicked deep into the Chichester half and some great pressure saw the full back slice his kick and give Heathfield a lineout on the 22. The Boars were now really up for the game and attacked relentlessly but again Chichester tackled well and held out, but they couldn’t relive the relentless pressure.

Sam Cooley peel's off round the front of the line out to maintain the pressure...

Another line out saw Sam “The Hair” Cooley take the ball and peel round the front to get close to the line, it was a great move which deserved a try but wasn’t to be. The ball was recycled and this time it was the backs who would get a chance but again Chichester held firm, even when stretched to the limit all across the pitch Chichester were resolute. A knock on gave Heathfield a scrum just top the left of the posts about ten yards out and the Boars backs all lined up to the right. Coming from the right, tight to the back of the scrum Justin “Elvis” Waters took a nice pop from stand in scrum half Tom Keylock; crashing through the Chichester scum half and then brushing aside the defenders on the line, to finally got the break through that Heath deserved making the score 19-15. The conversion was missed by Lewis, but it was a difficult kick into the wind and wouldn’t have an effect on the result.

"Justin" crashes over to score late on, after sustained Boars pressure

With three minutes to go Chichester restarted but never really got the ball, they did finally manage to get into the Heathfield 22 but good forward tackling and pressure meant the ball was recycled to Wates who hoof the ball up the pitch and out of play for the final touch of the game.

This was an excellent game played at a high tempo, by two teams that wanted to play rugby regardless of the weather and any strange referring decisions...

Man of the match could have gone to anyone. Tom Keylock stepping up to scrum half late on was a contender, as was Sam Cooley for his great barrelling runs but this game was won in the forwards and for his rallying cries and overall performance Rory “The Hitcher” Burchett has to take the honours.

Boars Team – N. Evens, C. Ambrosino, R. Burchett, P. Hookway (I. Schlieder), T. Rose, S. Cooley, K. Lewis, J. Parsons (T. Flint – 20), L. Keylock , T. Ingram, J. Wates, T. Keylock (P. McEvoy), S. Hollingdale, J. Gavor, N. Sands

Match Report by Julian Wates (with help from KFC)

2/3/2009 12:52:51 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron II vs Barns Green

This away match against Barns Green was played at Horsham RFC due to an unplayable pitch at Barns Green.

The game started at a furious pace with Barns Green attacking down the slope and putting the Heathfield defence to an immediate test. Heathfield were up to the challenge and denied Barns Green from collecting any points. The first score came just on the ten minute mark Heathfield had a penalty, ten metres out, in front of the posts, instead of a safe three points a quick thinking Greg Kneller tapped the ball and just managed scramble over the line to score, conversion by Sam Goacher.

In this league Heathfield have learnt that they can't relax for a minute because when they do the opposition can strike, which is what Barns Green proved as they ran the ball from there own ten metre line, ran through most of the Heathfield team to score. This wake up call focused Heathfield to reply with three quick tries, the first was a backs move with centre Chris English making good ground and popping the ball to wing Mike Hole to run in and score.The second was a lovely team try involving forwards and backs, which was finished off by the forwards as prop Greg Kneller popped the ball to flanker Jack Bayley to outrun the defence with a two metre sprint and score. Just on half time captain, Levi Willis who was having a very strong game, scored one of his typical tries powering through the Barns Green defence and scoring. This gave a half time score of 26 - 5 to Heathfield.

The second half fell a little flat and although always in complete control Heathfield did not stamp there authority on the game and always gave Barns Green a chance to make a come back. The deadlock was broken as Greg Kneller scored his second try of the game after 15 minutes. Undaunted Barns Green who had not given up managed to run in another try helped by a little complacency in the tackling department.

Towards the end of the game Barns Green began to tire and holes began to appear in there defence. The Heathfield backs took advantage and put together some lovely moves and ran in two tries, one by full back Ross Riley, and one by wing Mike Shalcross.

Final score  Heathfield & Waldron 43,  Barns Green 10

2/3/2009 12:37:52 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Rugby The Winner!

Heathfield U14 (24)  Vs.   (12)  Crawley U14

Heathfield U14 arrived at the Crawley ground with blue skies overhead but with freezing temperatures and a bitterly cold wind blowing. The ground itself was just about taking a stud but was marginal in places. The game however went ahead with all in agreement and Heathfield started the match playing into the strong wind that was blowing.

The match started fairly evenly with both sides testing each other’s defence in the forwards and in the backs. Heathfield just about edged these contests with good rucking technique and some fantastic breaks from the midfield by Alex Borg (playing his first match at centre from prop!) and Henry Jolliffe. These two played really well considering they were up against the best opposition centre pairing they have faced this season. Eventually, Heathfield broke clear with Henry J. beating a couple of tackles and getting a try in the corner. Much of the rest of the half was played in a similar manner with the Crawley backs using the wind advantage exceptionally well and putting continued pressure on the Heathfield back three, and the Heathfield forwards driving, rucking and mauling very well to gain back ground. Harry Reilly played well and mixed his game astutely at fly-half but was helped by a generally dominant scrum. Towards the end of the half, Crawley applied concerted pressure and capitalised on a few Heathfield mistakes to score and unconverted try in the corner.

Half-Time: Heathfield drawing 5 – 5.

The second half saw a number of changes to get everyone on and a few positional changes. Heathfield started to consistently get the better of Crawley, with Conor Ingham and Will Morris making good yards, but it was Lewis Golding (later to be named Man-of-the-Match) who continued superbly from where he left off in the 1st half making great yardage and generally causing chaos in the opposition ranks. Indeed it was from a couple of these charges into the opposition back line, and the setting up of good possession by Lewis, that allowed Henry Jolliffe to score a brace of converted tries in a couple of minutes. This took Heathfield clear of Crawley but, to the credit of the Crawley squad, they continued to play hard attractive rugby. Henry Jolliffe scored his fourth of the day following good play from Dean, Will and Greg on the touchline. After this, a bit of an error by the coaches in attempting to make a substitution for Henry (suffering from tonsillitis even though he did score 4 tries) at a penalty meant that Heathfield were out of position on a good attack by Crawley, allowing them to exploit the lack of a fullback to score a well worked converted try taking the score to 24 – 12.

The final whistle came with all parties involved commenting on what an extremely good, entertaining and well refereed game of rugby they had just watched. It was an excellent advertisement for junior rugby and we look forward to hosting Crawley in a return fixture next season.

2/3/2009 11:33:03 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield 12 Bromley 0

Heathfield continued their impressive recent form with a decisive victory over the team one place higher than them in London SE Division 4. All four Heathfield teams won on the day but this was put in context as the games were preceded by a minute’s silence for the tragic death of a young Hastings player last weekend.

Playing with the stiff chill breeze in the first half, Bromley started brightly, putting pressure on the home scrum and, as happened throughout the game, making good ground through their three quarters with pace and skilful running.  However once Heathfield gained possession they counter-attacked effectively and from broken play near the Bromley 22, Grant Stewart  scooped up a loose ball on the run, kicked ahead and out-paced the defence to re-gather and score one of the most impressive individual tries ever seen at Cross-In-Hand. (5-0)

The home team had the majority of possession as the scrum settled down after that first problem and instead was putting pressure on Bromley so that Lee Vockins at scrum-half was often able to disrupt the visiting No8 as he picked up.  The lineout was also a source of solid possession as Bruce Pestell and Stewart generally secured their own ball and often upset the Bromley throw-ins.

For much of the first half Heathfield were able to nullify any advantage that the wind might have given the visitors by denying them the ball with the green back row being especially effective in countering the large Bromley forwards.  There were several periods of sustained pressure on the visitor’s line but their defence proved just adequate.  Sean Hammond, playing at hooker in the absence of Rob Lawrence, was conspicuous throughout the game playing right on the offside line and often making effective runs.

After half an hour Chris Watton was unable to continue due to a calf injury and was replaced by Tim Evans.  Then on a rare foray into the home half, Bromley had a penalty kick at goal but the kicker hooked it wide.

The second half initially continued in much the same pattern.  Heathfield now missed a penalty but after ten minutes the decisive score was made by Sam (Mono) Thewlis.  A Heathfield lineout near the Bromley line was securely won by Stewart and Bryn Jones at fly half ran flat with the centres drifting wide, taking the defence with them, allowing full-back Thewlis to enter the line at pace and touch down under the posts.  Matt Skinner duly converted.  (12-0)

Heathfield continued to pressure the visitors and eventually the referee yellow-carded one of them for impeding a quickly taken penalty.  In spite of being a man short the Bromley defence proved adequate and as the game went on they started to achieve more possession and made a number of dangerous attacks.  However Heathfield’s defence has been a particular strong point throughout this season and there was no further scoring, albeit not without some shaky moments.

Heathfield coach Dave Jones was very pleased with the result and found it difficult to select a man of the match.  Stewart and Hammond shared the honours with the back row of Matt Ryan, Bruce Pestell and Simon Wilson who all had impressive games.

Heathfield’s next league match is on 14th February away to Horsham – 2.30 kickoff. Third place in the league looks very possible and promotion is not impossible.  Before then Heathfield are due to travel to Chichester next Saturday for a semi-final in the Sussex Trophy, 2 pm kickoff, weather permitting.

2/3/2009 10:11:30 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Success for Heathfield Girls

Just a quick note to let you know that Heathfield have 4 girls selected in the South East of England regional squad of 25 players.

They play their first match against the East Midlands on Feb 8th at St Albans.

Sussex have 11 out of the 25 which is a great result compared to previous years- 6 of these are from H3 out of which 4 come from Heathfield.

Photo attached: from left to right – Georgia Gale, Charlotte Bird, Deborah Harwood and Georgia Gray.

Georgia Gale and Deborah Harwood played their way up through the Heathfield Minis, all the way from U8

1/26/2009 1:36:03 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron II v's Norfolk Arms

Heathfield played at home for this tough fixture against Norfolk Arms who were currently second in the league.

The wet ground conditions were not ideal for running rugby, but the Heathfield backs, marshaled by stand off Sam Goacher took no notice of the conditions and played some open running rugby which included some technical backs moves,which didn't always come off, but when they did produced some lovely flowing rugby which sliced through the Norfolk Arms defence. Scores were only prevented by some strong last ditch Norfolk Arms defence. The Heathfield forwards once again were dominant in the scrums with hooker Chris Jones winning a number of balls against the head and scrum half Simon Jackson making full use of any ball that came his way.

The first half was a low scoring affair with one penalty conversion score for each side.

The second half started in the best way possible. Virtually from the kick off the ball was won back from the Norfolk Arms forwards and with some fine interplay between Ross Riley, Josh Mullet, and Sam Goacher, Sam crossed the line for the first try of the game. The second Heathfield try came half way through the second half. From a scrum a pre planned backs move cut the Norfolk Arms defence in half allowing inside centre Nick Seddon to power through to score, this was converted by Sam Goacher.

By this time Heathfield were looking to take control of the game with both strong forward play and flamboyant backs play.

The final try of the game was scored by prop Greg Kneller, He had tactically moved out to the wing, to have a rest, and ended up being on the receiving end of a backs move just five metres from the line, a distance that he was able to sprint and score.

All in all a good performance by Heathfield who are slowly but surely moving up the league table.

Final score,  Heathfield  20 - Norfolk Arms  6.

1/24/2009 5:35:57 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Park House 5 - Heathfield & Waldron RFC 19

Park House has never been a happy hunting ground for Heathfield and although the Greenies recorded a satisfactory win, they were made to defend manfully in the second half and suffered a worrying number of injuries in the process. Bruce Pestell played most of the game with a broken and bloodied nose, Rob Lawrence suffered ligament damage to an ankle and both Chris Watton and new boy Grant Stewart also had to leave the field for treatment. That is the bad news. The good news is that  Park House competed more strongly in the second half and game was superbly refereed by a young official who will surely go on to referee at a higher level.

Heathfield started the game confidently and soon advanced deep into Park House territory. With Rob Lawrence throwing accurately, Greenies soon began to gain quality lineout ball through debutant Grant Stewart who made a good impression from the outset. After about fifteen minutes Stewart won a lineout inside the Park House 22 and the forwards drove for the line with Simon Wilson getting the touchdown. The conversion was missed but after a further spell of good all round play by Heathfield a forward claimed another try which delighted the Heathfield supporters on the touchline. Prop forwards sometimes score tries from forward drives near their opponent’s line but rarely sprint over from twenty yards out. However the powerful Chris Watton who looks fitter every week received a pass near the touchline and ran strongly towards the try line. He was at full throttle when he took the pass and with a powerful hand off and even a hint of a sidestep he beat the cover to score a most impressive try.

Shortly before half time Heathfield scored another brilliant try when Tom Sheffield came off his wing and, picking a perfect line took an inside pass from fly half Bryn Jones to score under the posts. Matt Skinner made this conversion to stretch Heath’s half time lead to 19 points to nil. Sadly just before the break Heathfield`s outstanding Hooker Rob Lawrence had to leave the field with a nasty ankle injury.

Heathfield had dominated the game in the first half but in the second they rarely reached their opponents half of the field. The home team improved their game in every department and Heathfield had to absorb a great deal of pressure. Park House were a different team after the interval. Their forwards set about winning rucks and mauls and their backs attempted to play a fast and open game with their full back giving an almost flawless performance. He had command of the high ball and constantly made yards with his running from deep. Heathfield were disrupted by injuries and by the change of pace shown by their opponents. They did not look like increasing their lead but it was to their credit that they only conceded one score against some spirited play from the home side. The final score was a fair one mainly because Heathfield have such a well organised and robust defensive system.

For Heathfield the flankers Pestell and Tom Pritchard played with great courage and with Wilson at No 8 the back row was always close to the breakdown. The backs with Damien Pestell continuing to make powerful runs in the centre were mainly reduced to defensive kicking and tackling in the second half. They are an exciting three-quarter line but must make more use of the talents of Tom Sheffield on the wing. This was a tough game for the Greenies but they played enough good rugby to suggest that their winning sequence can continue. They play second placed Bromley at Cross in hand on Saturday (kick off 2.15)

1/24/2009 5:33:05 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

GREENIES GET OUT OF JAIL (AGAIN)

Heathfield U14    10   vs     5    Pulborough U14

Familiar headline? Read on...

Another Sunday, another league match. With the holiday season over and a cancelled match against Bromley due to weather, Heathfield went into this game having not played since the league match against Crowborough in mid-December.

Heathfield arrived at Pulborough with a number of players out injured or unavailable and a match squad of 20 players with pretty much the whole back division either new or playing out of place. However this didn’t show as Heathfield started with a bang with Alex Borg scoring in the corner after about 1 minute of phased play from the kick-off.

The rest of the half was dominated by some very poor refereeing by a referee who was either unwilling or unable to control the rucks and simply did not understand what the offside line was. Pulborough players were continually smashing into the side of rucks, nowhere near the “back-door” that they were meant to be attacking and perpetually picking up the ball in the middle of rucks without being penalised. (Apparently I am unaware of the rules and this is actually allowed - I SHALL NOT be coaching our players to do this!). Heathfield fought well, against the odds, and had some flashes of good play but to be brutally honest, let Pulborough off the hook by allowing themselves to become embroiled in the general shoddy nature of the game. They did, however, manage to score another try in the same corner by Jamie Wardle.

Half-time and Heathfield lead 10 – 0.

The 2^nd half started much as the first left off. Very little changed except Heathfield were playing into the wind. More “unusual” refereeing kept play very fractured and the Pulborough number 12 was having a field day, often 4 or 5 metres offside and on one occasion, putting in a tackle on Harry Reilly when he was actually still running BACK to get to an on-side position on the pitch after having made a tackle earlier in the play – fantastic! During this period Pulborough managed to put some good play together and concerted pressure found them scoring in the same corner as Heathfields two tries. Very few opportunities to either side for the rest of the half meant that this game, although well fought by both sides, was really meandering to an end.

However, there was one last drama to be played out. With the match time over Heathfield kept pressing for a try and were camped on the Pulborough try-line for about 2 minutes – a simple tap into touch would have ended the match. A dropped pass by Heathfield and fly-hack by Pulborough resulted in a straight leg-race between a Pulborough centre and Henry Jolliffe. Neither player was able to get away and after 80 metres of pulling, tugging and fly-hacking, Henry put in a football style tackle from behind on the Pulborough center who went tumbling into the turf. The referee apparently said that there was so much pulling of jerseys and shoving during the chase that he could have given a penalty to either side (I personally thought that the only decision was a penalty try but hey!... I didn’t realise that you were allowed to pick up in a ruck!). In the end the decision was to blow for the end of time!

Final Score and Heathfield win 10 – 5.

1/19/2009 1:28:13 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Boars start well in 2009

Heathfield Boars 22 Lewes 3’s 10

The Boars brought in the New Year with a win over the only team who had stopped them scoring in 2008. Lewes had looked composed as they warmed up and caught the Boars cold by scoring a converted try within 2 minutes of the kick off. Aggressive and direct running in the centre found only weak tackling and the score was inevitable.

How would the Boars respond? Up stepped 17 heroes as they worked very hard to establish some control on the game, dominate field position and then finish the game strongly.

Heathfield start to move towards the Lewes try line...

How you play up the Waldron slope is a key factor in deciding who wins matches there and as the Boars defence grew stronger so the young backs started to make breaks and take the game into the Lewes half. This was rewarded when Boars won a 5 metre scrum, controlled the ball nicely and fed Tom Ingram who drew 2 tacklers before offloading for Julian Wates to score.

it was from this scrum that Ingram broke through the defense to set up the first try...

With no further score before half time the Boars were very happy to be 5-7 down but have the slope in their favour. After 10 minutes of play the Boars got the break they wanted with a carbon copy of the first try as a good forward platform let Ingram release Wates to score a try converted by Kenny Lewis.

this win was based on hard work from everyone...

A period of Lewes pressure saw them kick a penalty to narrow the gap to 12-10 and the game stayed in the balance until Tom Keylock scored a wonder try. Lewes broke out of defence and with strong running made it to the Boars 10 metre line before a good tackle put the ball in touch, KFC screamed at Dave Rhodes to take a quick throw. The balled moved through several sets of hands before it reached Keylock who jinked his way through almost the Lewis team, before handing of the full back to score under the posts, giving Lewis an easy conversion. With only 10 minutes to go the Boars knew that continued hard work would see the win and the cherry was put on top when Lewis kicked a penalty goal ahead of the final whistle.

Now we may be able to let Tom Keylock off for wearing white shorts, but what was "Brighton" Pete thinking of when he selected his!!!

This was a great team performance with everyone working for each other. Much praise goes to Sam Cooley, Dan Bird, Tom Ingram, Julian Wates and Tom Keylock but the Boars man of the match award went to back rower Tony Flint who harried the opposition throughout the match.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, J. Sharp, R. Burchett (M. Powderley – 50), P. Hookway, S. Cooley, D. Bird, K. Lewis, M. Brown (T. Flint – 20), D. Rhodes, T. Ingram, J. Wates, L. Keylock, P. Brighton, J. Gavor, N. Sands

Match Report by Mike MacLeod

1/17/2009 7:08:08 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron RFC 23 - Folkestone RFC 5

Heathfield started their post Christmas league season with a workmanlike victory over a Folkestone XV which had not had a game since the break. The Home team started well and were quicker to the breakdown and better coordinated in all they attempted. The sides were well matched as they were before Christmas but Folkestone, who were short of some key players found the long trip and Heathfield`s desire to climb higher in the league Table too much on a surface made for good rugby.

Heathfield attacked from the start and inside the first five minutes scored a try by Tom Sheffield who pounced on a loose ball which had squirted out of a scrum near the Stone’s line. Before Folkestone had time to recover from their journey and conceding an early score, Heath scored again. This was a much more satisfying try scored by hooker Rob Lawrence after a spell of interpassing by the home team with backs and forwards involved. Neither try was converted and towards the end of the half Folkestone began to exert more pressure. They played some good rugby but Heathfield showed how well organised their defensive system is and they managed to cope with everything that the Stone’s threw at them The half time score was 10-0 to the home side.

Folkestone continued to take the game to the home side as the second half got under way but much of their good work was spoiled by errors while Heathfield played with considerable patience until they rested the initiative from their visitors. Chris Watton who has made a welcome return to the club this season was substituted in the front row by the excellent and versatile Sean Hammond who looked to have regained his early season form after injury. This allowed Richard Cooley to move to the tight head and provided the Greenies with a fresh impetus in the loose. The introduction of Sam Thewlis also added pace and it was good to see Dan Hunter- Evans back in the pack. He is a talented forward and will feature in the club’s forward planning. The home side extended their lead with a Matt Skinner penalty for hands in a ruck and then put the match out of their opponents reach when Damien Pestell, with a surging run from the 22 scored a fine try under the posts to take the margin to 23 points.

Folkestone did not lie down and produced some strong rugby in the last quarter which resulted in a well taken try after a tapped penalty. The final score was a fair reflection on the game which meant that taken on both matches this season honours were even between two very similar and compatible clubs.Heathfield travel to Park House next Saturday in good heart and entertain second placed Bromley the following Saturday. There is much to savour for Greenies supporters in the next few weeks.

1/17/2009 3:01:34 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)