Heathfield U15 37 Vs. 7
Eastbourne U15
This
was the opening match of the U15 season away to Eastbourne on an overcast and
warm morning. The squad arrived in good spirits and eager to get the season
cracking after an extended pre-season.
Heathfield kicked off the half and
immediately applied pressure on the Eastbourne defense. Good phased play saw a
number of half breaks through the backs and with continuity supplied by the
forwards, this allow Gareth to break through and score after 5 minutes. Alex
was heavily involved in the second try with a couple of surging runs, the last
of which saw him pop a pass to Henry J. with players to beat. Henry was able to
step and jink his way to the line to score another unconverted try.
An injury to Travis meant a slight re-jig with Henry R. fancying a try-out at
inside centre.
After a period of midfield play, Eastbourne won a couple of breakdowns and
forced Heathfield to infringe near their 10m line. Eastbourne failed to find
touch from the penalty which resulted in a sweeping move initiated 10m from the
Heathfield try-line. Great hands from the backs and some direct running saw the
next breakdown on the halfway line. Henry R. received the ball on the burst and
made good yards with a final pop pass to Gareth to score his second try (unconverted)
of the match.
Half Time: Heathfield lead 15 – 0.
The second half started in a similar vein
with Heathfield applying good pressure and Eastbourne doggedly defending. A DSP
in the backs from a scrum 15m out eventually led to Alex getting the ball going
blind. He managed to force his way over the line for the first (and only)
converted try of the match.
Another good move from Heathfield saw the ball moving down the line on the
right for Jack who did an excellent job going to ground and keeping the ball in
play. Quick re-cycling saw the ball moved the other way and, with a number of
forwards in the backline, provided an overlap for George to exploit and beat a
couple of covering players to score near the corner.
More pressure from Heathfield saw the ball held up over the Eastbourne
try-line. From the resultant 5m scrum Harry dummied a called move and stepped
inside the cover defense to score.
For the final try, Harry drew the defense with another break and popped an
excellent inside ball to Freddy who still had to beat a number of players to
score.
Eastbourne scored a converted try with
little time remaining after a kick through was not cleanly taken by the
defending Heathfield backs. Allowing the ball to bounce from a kick is never a
good thing to do and so it proved again when the Eastbourne player following up
the kick got a good bounce and with momentum in his favour was able to score
unopposed under the posts.
So, first game over. Many good things to be
taken from this match – handling, support play, rucking (at times), breaks and
half-breaks and that we were able to give everyone a game. However, this was a
very rusty and tired performance from the squad with a number of factors – a
late night carnival the night before, 4 matches in 8 days for a number of
players and a tour fund raising 5K run in Rye on Friday evening for most of the
squad – to be taken into consideration as well. It has also shown that we need
to raise our level of play by at least another 50% if we are to be competitive
in the league this season.
Finally, just had word that Travis was
taken to hospital and has broken a bone in his hip and will be out for a number
of weeks. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Travis. Hopefully, he may be
back to play against some old team mates when we play Richmond in a few weeks
time.
Full Time: Heathfield win 37 – 7.