Slightly unexpected . . .

In the past two seasons this fixture has been a close fought affair. Both friendlies last season were high scoring with each club winning their own home fixture. So with both squads personnel being similar to previous seasons it was going to be another close match.

As a training format the coaches agreed to play three 20 minutes sessions. For the first five minutes of the match it looked like Heathfield were in for a difficult game and the boys did not manage to get out of their own half. Tom Tingley, making his Heathfield debut, made his first try saving tackle to deny one Lewes effort. The Lewes backs should have been over a couple of times once where they created a three on one overlap which they did not exploit and another occasion the final pass did not quite go to hand, frustrations that Heathfield can also relate to. Heathfield yet again showed great character in an effective scramble defence, but self-inflicted pressure mounted with a display of some poor clearance kicking. Eventually Lewes produced a well worked try drawing in our defence and scoring (0-5).

With a little more urgency George M, Tom C and Tom T chased the restart; the ball was recovered and driven up field by Tom DeB. The forwards then recycling the ball quickly and some fast hands between Dan and Jay led to Harrison receiving the ball on the Lewes 10 yard line where he ran in a try under the posts. (5-7).

The early skills that Lewes had shown seemed to desert them and they let three quick tries through. The first by Tom T, who stepped inside his opposite centre and outpaced the rest of the defence (5-14). Edward showed equally quick pace to bring the score to 5 – 21. A secure take and off load by Ollie set the ball up for Tom C who shipped the ball out to Sam who was tackled five meters out, but a close supporting Anthony took the pop pass to take the score to 5-26. Heathfield’s final try of the opening session came from Sam who ran from the halfway line to score out wide, Tom C made an excellent conversion (5-33). The session came to an end when Heathfield switched off and let a Lewes player run through them to score under the posts to leave the score at the whistle 12 -33.

Lewes looked to have a little more about them at the restart and using their mobile hard hitting flankers moved the ball up the middle of the field. Heathfield matched the offensive action with some good tackling, one notable tackle by Jay on the fast hard-hitting Lewes flanker sent Jay bouncing back thus proving Newton’s third law “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” (thank to Martin B for that one). Fortunately Jay must have been listening during tackling drills because his body position was good, head in the right place so no harm done. The forwards turned the ball over and a quick off load by Tom C to Edward who looked to be heading from his second try but was tackled short of the line. However thanks to the awareness of a fast moving Harry B in support the try was still scored. (12-40)

Some poorer Heathfield handling led Lewes back into the game and then a couple of penalties saw Lewes edge closer to their second try. Heathfield's defending continued to be good when the boys were in our own 22 are. One such incidence when Lewes took a penalty Charlie wrapped the player up to prevent quick ball and a combination tackle by Tyler and Anthony supported by Connor brought down the giant Lewes No8.

The continued defensive pressure led to a turn over which enabled Tom C to kick up field. Lewes counter attack with some better handling but the move was eventually stopped by the Heathfield pack. The Heathfield attack began again with another clearance kick by Jay and chased down by Tom T and Edward leading to a Heathfield line out. A couple of –phases of play from the pack resulted in Tom C going over for the try which Aaron converted to bring the score to 12-47. A lapse of concentration by Lewes after the restart led to Edward running through to make a great pick up and brought the score to 12-52 which ended the second period.

When the game restarted it looked like Heathfield had resorted to previous performances letting the Lewes backs run through them and only a late tackle by Sam prevented the score. Even when the ball was cleared into the Lewes half, Heathfield again let the winger run a full forty meters to score (17-52). Even though the Heathfield pack was mauling and rucking against a heavier pack they were holding their own but after four or five phases of play Lewes broke the line for another try (22 -52).

We had seen in past seasons what Lewes were capable of and with the both squads being similar to last year it looked like Lewes were coming back into the game. Fortunately the boys settled down and the ball found its way out to Harrison who nearly got his second but he passed to Anthony to score the try (22-57). Another two quick tries from Sam and Aaron and a final superb conversion from the touchline by Tom C the game finished 22-69.

Whilst Lewes was guilty of letting a few tries through due to poor tackling Heathfield kept the ball alive and created the majority of the attacking options. Also Lewes could easily have scored far more points but for the defence in Heathfield’s own 22 yard area. If the boys focus on tackling further up field this will result in less self-inflicted pressure. It is also good to see that the scoring was spread throughout the team with 8 separate names on the scorecard.

As the number of tries showed we can mount attack from all areas of the field, but the focus for our first league game next week against Uckfield must still be on defensive play as the crux to winning games.