Heathfield & Waldron RFC 30- Folkestone RFC 8

Heathfield are still the only unbeaten side in their league and the arrival of Folkestone at Cross in hand on Saturday provided them with the incentive to play some of their best rugby of this campaign. The game was played at pace and in the best spirits of the game. Heathfield prevailed in this encounter because they were stronger up front and especially in the all important breakdown area. They were well served by their pack who dominated set pieces and turnover situations. While Bruce Pestell and Simon Wilson in the back row had excellent all round games it is pleasing to report that two young players, both new to the 1stXV this season also had a strong influence on Heathfield`s victory. Tight head prop Ollie Smith had a good game in the tight and carried well in open play while Sam Goatcher was a good link at fly half and produced place kicking of the highest order to ensure that the home side won by a handsome margin.

From the start of the game Heathfield carried deep into their opponents half and were rewarded with an early try by full back  Sam Thewlis cutting into the line to cross half way between the posts and the touchline. Sam Goatcher converted. Almost immediately  the Folkestone Full back who impressed until having to go off injured in the second half put in a strong run from within his own half  running through some poor Heathfield tackling. The home side quelled the danger but conceded a penalty which reduced Heathfield`s lead to four points. Goatcher restored the lead to seven points with a well struck penalty from near half way and then the Greenies enjoyed a good spell of running rugby from backs and forwards which ended with prop Ollie Smith crossing the try line. Unfortunately the referee was unsighted and could not award the try. It did not matter because from the resulting scrum the home eight drove powerfully for Simon Wilson to claim the pushover try. Shortly after this try the ever present Wilson was the grateful recipient of a loose pass by one of the Folkestone backs to intercept for a simple run in. The score at half time was 20 points to three.

Heathfield showed no sign of letting up when the second half began and Goatcher continued to kick well converting a penalty after 15 minutes. With a good supply of ball from their forwards Heathfield kept their opponents on the back foot with  Damien Pestell making inroads in the centre in attempts to create space for the speed merchants outside him. Folkestone defended bravely and never gave up. After a sustained period of pressure on Heathfield`s line they scored a good try. The conversion was missed and soon after the restart Heathfield scored a final try through the individual speed and determination of their outside centre Seb Jones who burst clear from just inside his own half and beat all the cover offered by Folkestone to cross in the corner. It was a  fine effort by the ever improving Jones and Goatcher capped it by converting from the touchline.  The final score was 30-8 in Heathfield`s favour. This match was a delight to watch which was a credit to the players and coaches of both clubs and to a referee who controlled the game well and gained the respect of both players and spectators.

11/10/2009 8:35:19 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

On the road......

11/9/2009 8:49:25 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron III 14 - Uckfield II 22

Heathfield 3rds entertained Uckfield 2nd team in the first round of the Sussex vase on Saturday. Both sides travelled down to the Waldron pitch and Heathfield elected to play up hill in the first half. It’s such a well used cliché that I hate to use it, (probably borrowed from football too – which is even worse) but this really was a game of two halves. How much of that was dictated from the Waldron slope and how much was down to the players was up for debate in the club house after the game.

Either way Uckfield started well. They were clearly a well organised unit and their fly half (who had an excellent game) had a good boot that kept Heathfield at the base of the slope for most of the first quarter. Heathfield in contrast were slow to get going but more disappointedly started missing tackles in the centre of the park. Consequently the wider defence was sucked in leaving superior numbers out wide which the travelling side used to great effect. Two tries and a penalty later and Heathfield were giving themselves a mountain to climb already 0-17 down.

Just when the home side thought things couldn’t get any worse their fly half was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringement and greenies were now fighting with fourteen men for ten minutes. Consequently another try was scored by Uckfield and the game looked lost.

However with six minutes to go of the first half there was then a long stoppage when an Uckfield centre was injured with a suspected broken leg and an ambulance was called. Best wishes to the player who was stretchered off. This break in play (sorry) seamed to flick a switch with the home side and from the restart they were like a different team. The rucking improved and because of this so did Heathfield’s possession and the backs with ball in hand started to look dangerous. It was hard to believe at times it was Heathfield that still only had fourteen men and a couple of times Heathfield worried the Uckfield try line only to be held up short.

As the teams turned around at half, the home side continued with this pressure and good possession generated by the forwards. Some crisp passing from Will Chipchase found Ben Cox determined to make up for his first half discretion and he duly started distributing the ball well and the backs then started hitting some better lines. Heathfield were sad to loose Nick “furry” Evans (who had been playing with his usual aggression and ferocity) to injury just inside the second half, but his replacement Will Greaves played fantastically for the rest of the half and seamed to have the upper hand over his man in the scrum which was much better down the hill. Kenny Lewis also made a big impact when he came on and lifted the tempo and the aggression level.

Tackling like a man possessed (as always) Julian “I have used my only good kick of the season two weeks ago so this kick is borrowed from next season” Wates demonstrated he is not all brawn with a lovely chip over the defence to the corner. From this position, Ian Schlieder managed to scurry over the try line for what looked like a score only to be pulled back for offside.

Greenies heads were now up though and Greg Kneller, who was starting to look lively around the park, intercepted a stray Uckfield pass just inside Heathfield’s half and the chase was on for the line. The prop had the legs over several Uckfield backs and scored an excellent try. Ben Cox duly converted.

Heathfield continued to use their numerous subs to give the side some fresh legs and the players that came on stepped up well and showed that this side is made up of a squad not just the starting fifteen. Tom Keylock was lively at scrum half and Ashley Sutton had some good runs in particular.

The basics were now putting Heathfield in control of the game. Good rucking, good tackling and pressure on their opposite numbers stopped Uckfield dictating how they wanted to play. The tempo was increased and this quicker ball was putting players in space and Heathfield’s second try came from out wide with good running from Pete Snow and Mike Shallcross who put Tom Gooders in for the try in the corner. He had the sense to run between the sticks making the conversion easier and Mike Shallcross just about slotted the extra two points.

Uckfield looked worried and the home support fancied an upset but it sadly wasn’t to be. The poor first half had left just too big a mountain to climb and despite some excellent fight to the end, Heathfield were unable to score any more points.

Credit to league leaders Uckfield 2nd’s who held on for the win and demonstrated what a well structured and drilled side they are and who also played the game with great sportsmanship. Heathfield 3rd team must take heart from their second half performance and work on producing that intensity for eighty minutes but they did demonstrate that when they play as a team at a quick tempo they are a dangerous side with excellent potential for the rest of the season.

Man of the match could have gone to Julian Wates for his aggression in defence and leadership on the pitch, Sam Cooley was also a handful at the base of the scrum and in the loose and had an excellent game. But for his second half performance, lifting the tempo of the side and a super try this week it was Greg Kneller that got the award.

An extra thank you should go to Mike Mucloud for stepping up to referee the game when the scheduled referee was late due to confusion over kick off times.

Match report by Simon Hollingdale

Team:  Greg Kneller, Chris Ambrasino, Nick Evans, (Will Greaves - 35), Mike Dilley, (Lloyd Panel - 60), Ian Schlieder, (Billy Hickson – 70), Rhys Evans (Kenny Lewis – 40), Tom Ralph, Sam Cooley, Will Chipchase, (Tom Keylock - 50), Ben Cox, (Pete Snow – 50), Julian Wates, Charlie Jones, Mike Shallcross, Josh Pitman, (Ashley Sutton - 60), Tom Gooders.

11/2/2009 8:54:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron II 3 - Chichester II 12

Heathfield unlucky in the Cup

The rain held off this week for Heathfield II, playing at home in front of a crowd against Chichester II for a Cup game.

The first few minutes provided a great deal of entertainment, with both sides exerting pressure on each other. A handling error by Chichester gave Heathfield a brief advantage, but Chichester worked together well and overcame the backs to score a try in the bottom right corner, although they missed the conversion: 0-5.

Heathfield came together in response, focusing on their discipline and regaining their confidence. Some brilliant runs by Leon Collen and great play by Chris English gave Heathfield a much needed boost, but unfortunately they failed to break through Chichester’s defence.
The second forty minutes saw Heathfield’s scrum half take a big hit, forcing him off with concussion. Even with this blow Heathfield’s scrum proved superior with numerous balls won against the head by hooker Chris Jones.

With pressure mounting, a slip by Chichester allowed Heathfield to pile on the pressure. This earned them a penalty, kicked by English:3-5.

Throughout the game the Heathfield forwards looked dominant but it seemed the Chichester backs had the overall advantage, spreading the ball wide before cutting back inside to score a try near the posts, making it an easy conversion for Chichester’s fly half, with ten minutes remaining: 12-3.

Overall, Heathfield’s discipline has improved and the first half of this match saw them play their best rugby this season. Hopefully this will stand them in good stead for the other forthcoming league games.

Match report By Rebecca White

11/2/2009 8:17:43 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

That's better!

11/1/2009 10:54:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron U16 37 - Eastbourne U16 17

Heathfield Under 16s continued their impressive form with a fine victory over a well organised Eastbourne. The visitors started brightly using the advantage of the windy conditions to pin the home side back in their own half for the first ten minutes with some strong pressing play which led to an opening score from the combined efforts of the Eastbourne back row.

This stirred the home side and some good handling in the Heathfield backs gave winger Joe Hastings a chance to show his speed and guile with two blistering runs, the second of which was well supported at the breakdown by the forwards and enabled No. 8 David Bayly to crash over and level the scores.

Heathfield were then able to get back to their game plan and with the forwards gaining control the game turned back to Heathfield. David Vater spotted an excellent running line from the base of a ruck on the 22 to score his first try for the club.

 The game was still evenly poised at half time and Heathfield knew they had to raise the game further to counter Eastbourne's fightback, and as expected Eastbourne took the game to the homne side pressing for an equalising score. Dogged defence and strong counter rucking by Reece Webb, James Morrell and David Bayly kept the visitors out and as they pressed Charlie Watson seized on a misplaced Eastbourne pass inside his own 22, broke free of the tacklers and coolly chipped the advancing full back to score a pitch length interception try.

At this point the home side relaxed and started to play with the cohesion seen in previous games. Powerful inside centre Toby Warren was a constant threat to the Eastbourne midfield and would surely have scored on three occasions but for the heroic last ditch tackling of the Eastbourne full back. As the home side dominated David Vater capped a fine display with two more tries, followed by a blistering 30 metre run to score beneath the posts by Joe Hastings.

 Heathfield relaxed a little too much from this point and Eastbourne brought respectability to the score by adding two tries of their own, but by then the hard work spent through the summer on fitness saw Heathfield dominate the final exchanges, leading to well earned try for Mitch Gadd who returned to the squad for the first time this season.

Good individual performances were evident across the squad, most notably from Will Maltby and James Morrell who were both excellent in broken play. Oscar Lacey was industrious at scrum half and Robert Taylor enjoyed a solid game on the wing. Newcomer Shawn Roys made a very confident debut at full back and David Bayly was once again supreme in his workload and commitment. However, the man of the match award went to Reece Webb who proved to be a solid wall in defence and performed all the hard, often unseen work in the rucks and mauls to secure possession.

10/26/2009 10:07:46 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Edenbridge U13’s 0 Heathfield & Waldron U13’s 22

Carr and Laroche show Heathfield have ‘the edge’.

Heathfield U13’s travelled to a blustery Edenbridge this Sunday to start their league campaign.  Heathfield hadn’t played Edenbridge for three years when they narrowly lost to them on a tour friendly, so were unsure of their opposition.  Edenbridge won the toss and from the kick off Heathfield dominated the territory and possession.  Woods showed early promise with two runs in space from left wing.

Parsons playing at openside flanker was active very early on, ripping the ball from a maul and linking with Carr who quickly got on the score sheet. For the next few minutes Heathfield camped on Edenbridge’s line with a series of scrums but failed to capitalise on the possession. Taylor at scrum half crossed the line only to have a try deemed to be held up, and seconds later Geldart at no 8 did the same – Edenbridge managing to hold that up too!  It was Parsons again who from speedy work in the loose set up inside centre Benians to crash through for the second score.

Just before half time Ross at outside centre made a great break and linking with Carr for the Captain’s second try of the day, making sure he got under the posts so that Ross could convert the score.

The second half was a scrappy affair and Heathfield had much less possession to a fired up Edenbridge.  Defence was very strong from a depleted Heathfield side with Ross and Sweetman putting in some excellent tackling work. Paul had a trade mark marauding run from the breakdown, and Burdett looking like a chip off the old block linked well with a scissors move in the centre nearly breaking the gain line. The last score of the game came from Carr and Laroche linking on the left wing with new boy Laroche showing a great deal of pace and flair to run from his own half to score for the greenies. Laroche shows huge promise and natural pace.

Squad:  Paul, Osman, Baird, Sutton, Baker, Sweetman, McGavey, Geldart, Macleod, Taylor, Parsons, Benians, Ross, Woods, Burdett, Lacey, Cuming, Michael, Pantrey, Carr, Groves, Woods.

10/25/2009 9:24:53 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Heathfield & Waldron III 27 - Hasting & Bexhill II 0

Heathfield and Waldron 3rd team faced another strong side this week in the shape of Hasting and Bexhill 2nds. The rain lashed down and the wind gusted whilst the teams warmed up and it was clear that this game was going to be about who controlled the possession and coped with the conditions best.

The Heathfield pack certainly didn’t disappoint and from the first kick of the match dominated their opposition. Whilst the line out was unpredictable with the strong wind the home side were much sharper to stray line out balls and for the majority of the time secured good ball for the backs to run with. The Scrum was a totally one sided affair. On Hastings put in Heathfield wielded them through ninety degrees or shoved them off for almost all of the game. On their own put in they gained good yards on many occasions from driving the scrum forward. At best Hastings were forced to hook the ball quickly out giving their scrum half loose ball and totally ruining any chance their backs had of a good platform. Great credit must go in particular to the front row of Will Greaves, Chris Ambrosino and Nick Evans but also the other forwards packing down as again Heathfield demonstrated how a good scrum can not only provide a great platform but also knacker out the opposition forwards who constantly have to cope with the additional pressure.

Continued Heathfield forward dominance and some excellent kicking from Tom Ingram at fly half ensured Heathfield played most of the game in the away team’s half and the first points came from a penalty duly slotted over by full back Tom Gooders from in front of the posts.

The rain dried up but the conditions were still very wet and this could have been a contributing factor to the numerous handling errors from both sides but mainly Heathfield with their superior possession. On several occasions however scoring opportunities went begging from silly mistakes or wild passes which was frustrating.

When the team did get it right, they played some excellent rugby though and Heathfield’s first try was brilliantly executed. Tom Ingram controlled his back line and his forwards well throughout the game and linked the two together well for the score. The forwards provided a great platform and sucked in the Hastings’s defence and then the back line moved the ball well, each player drawing their man and then unselfishly passing down the line to create an overlap. Josh Pitman on the wing, who looked lively throughout, ended the move in the same fashion popping to full back Tom Gooders who handed off the last defender and scored.

Heathfield were clearly on top now and a second try quickly followed. Again from superb scrumaging a penalty was awarded to the attacking side. A quick tap and an excellent drive from the ever present Ian Jenkins left space out wide for the backs again and the ball found it’s way down the line to Tom Gooders just inside the Hastings half. A great run from the full back saw him beat several covering tackles and score. He then stepped up to convert his own try and Heathfield turned round at half time in control of the score board and the game.

Hastings defended stoutly in the second half and made it very difficult for Heathfield to break them down but the conditions dictated a lot of scrums and this constant scrumaging was taking its toll. Heathfield put a number of good plays together off loading to support runners and moving the point of contact and then a storming run from Ian Schlieder through several tackles enabled the pack to push the away side back over their try line and Nick “furry” Evans burrowed the ball down to score. Tom Gooders again converted.

The final try of the game, sealing the win for the home side, was probably the best executed. The forwards provided the platform but the backs made the score by again drawing the man and passing down the line for Josh Pitman to deservedly squeeze over in the corner.

A great win for Heathfield 27-0 and this now sets the team up for possibly its toughest game of the season against league leaders Uckfield next week. The team must look to cut out the silly errors and stray passes, but if the forwards can ruck and secure good ball like they did this week and if the backs can draw and pass unselfishly, that created two tries this week, the home side has every chance. 

Man the match could well have gone to a forward for their excellent dominance up front. Ian Jenkins and Rhys Evans were both strong in attack and ferocious in defence. In the backs Tom Ingram bossed the game well but for scoring two tries, kicking most of his chances at goal and fielding some awkward kicks brilliantly in wet and windy conditions Tom Godders was this week’s choice.

Match report by Simon Hollingdale

Team:  Will Greaves, Chris Ambrasino, Nick Evans, (Mike Powderly – 70), Ian Schlieder, Kenny Lewis, Rhys Evans, Tom Ralph, Ian Jenkins, Will Chipchase, Tom Ingram, Julian Wates, Tom Keylock, Alex Langdon, (Ashley Sutton – 60) Josh Pitman, Tom Gooders.

10/24/2009 5:45:25 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Old Gravesendians 17 Heathfield & Waldron 28

Another win and Heathfield are still top of London SEIII on points difference.  Heathfield has not played Old Gravesendians before so the considerable slope on the pitch was a surprise. The home team won the toss and chose to play uphill initially.  However the kickoff was dropped which allowed Heathfield to establish a good position and make repeated attacks from close range.  These soon led to Sam Thewlis touching down on the right wing and Sam Goatcher converting impressively (0-7).  Goatcher was making his first appearance for the first team in a league match and had a generally decent game, especially with his place kicking which was excellent.

Old Gravesendians are not having a good season with just one win to date and they were short of several first choice players.  However they contested fiercely throughout the match and their heads did not drop at this early score.  Indeed they managed several visits to Heathfield’s half, collecting two kickable penalties, converting the second (3-7).  At this point Rob Lawrence had to leave the field with a damaged finger and was replaced by Ollie Smith.  Also Will Drinkwater came on for an injured Damien Pestell thus requiring more reorganisation in the backs.

Heathfield generally had an edge in the scrum but lineouts were even and the stiff breeze made throwing in a thankless task.

Most of the play was in the home team half and Heathfield were able to build up some momentum in their forward drives with Smith noted making some excellent carries. From a ruck in front of the posts a switch saw Thewlis eluding several defenders and putting Chris Watton, loitering on the wing, in for a try near the left hand corner, again converted by Goatcher (3-14).

The home team again retaliated by climbing the hill but missed a penalty chance and a swift break out ended in a maul in front of the posts at the other end from which Richard Cooley, who had yet another fine all round game, claimed a well-deserved try (3-21).

The clouds had rolled away by half time so Heathfield now had to play up the hill almost directly into the sun.  The home team clearly felt that they were very much in the match and some hard fought exchanges resulted in Bruce Pestell being yellow-carded for some hand-bagging. Old Gs managed to score one converted try while he was off when a Heathfield drive out of defence lost control of the ball (10-21).

However for most of this half the green defence proved adequate and the forwards gained many yards driving up the hill.  On at least two occasions a loss of control allowed an Old G boot to fly hack the ball back down the hill and the process had to start again.

With about ten minutes to go home team pressure resulted in another converted try (17-21) and the result looked in doubt.  However a well-timed pass by Goatcher allowed Seb Jones to break some tackles and his pace produced the definitive score under the posts (17-28).  In spite of his card, Pestell was the man of the match for his huge contribution all over the pitch.

Heathfield are still top of the league but some forthcoming matches look difficult.  Next Saturday they travel to Ellingham and Ringwood in Hampshire for a tricky Senior Vase cup match (2.30pm).

10/24/2009 8:48:37 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

St.Frances 17 - Heathfield & Waldron II 12

The game between Heathfield and St Francis got under way in wet and windy conditions in Crawley. Aggressive play by St Francis forwards meant that numerous attacks resulted in a try, although they failed to convert. Heathfield then conceded two penalties. To make matters worse, scrum half Mike Jaques took a huge hit and was forced to come off. The score at half time was 11-0 to St Francis, with Heathfield down to 14 men.

Minutes into the second half St Francis scored again, with the forward easily penetrating the Heathfield defence. It was time for Heathfield to come back and playing into a strong head wind, the backs knew it was all or nothing. Heathfield went on the offensive, turning numerous ball over. Brilliant passing created opportunities, which allowed a tight cutting, straight running Joe Reilly to score an outstanding try from the 10 metre line.

Heathfield continued to play the better rugby. In the last few minutes Olly Robertshaw stretched over the line for a try, bringing the score to 17-12 to St Francis.

They may have lost, but Heathfield learnt a great deal about what they can achieve with their backs against the wall. Hopes are high for a win with a cup game against Chichester II next week.

10/24/2009 8:45:27 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)     

Same old story!

10/20/2009 4:24:08 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)