A competitive friendly

We had not played Bognor in past few seasons and given their results in the league below it should provide a good training friendly for both teams. The Heathfield squad fielded 19 players despite being eight 8 players down to the Sussex county training set up and a few others absent due to longer term injuries.

Early encounters led to a stalemate with the action staying in the middle of the field. Bognor had a few good runners who made some progress through the Heathfield backs. However from a set piece Coach David suggested Jay (playing scrum half) should go on the blindside, he passed to Tom C and out to Ed N who went over for the first score. (7-0) From the Bognor restart Heathfield confidence looked good. Jay put a great kick over the top, Tom T chased this hard and claimed the ball and unselfishly looked for support which came from Monty who scored his first try for Heathfield in his first game! (12-0)

Bognor gained some possession and George H kept one attack at bay by bundling the Bognor centre into touch. If the quick Bognor winger got the service that he needed he may have been away on three occasions but was expected to gather some last minute fling passes. Despite this Bognor closed in on the Heathfield try line, and was held up by George H, Max and Ed J. With the increased pressure came increased errors and indiscipline which led to numerous penalties which Bognor eventually capitalised on to score their first try. (12-5).

Jay took a quick restart which caught Bognor on the hop, and the resulting pressure led to a scrum on the Bognor 10 yard line. Jay put in another great kick in to space behind the Bognor backs. The return clearance from Bognor was well taken by Tom C who then ran the ball back from the half way line back into the Bognor 22 yard area, with Monty in close support. This set up a Heathfield scrum, Connor picked up the ball from the back of the scrum, went on the blindside and a strong run went through three players to take the score to 17-5.

At this point several players were getting their hands on the ball and driving straight up field which is what the coaches had asked for, Josh, Luke and Mackenzie all made excellent yards and kept this up for most of the game. From an area of scrappy play George H scooped the ball up and bulldozed his way from our own 10yard line to Bognor’s 22, he was then tackled but managed a pop the ball out to Tom T who scored his second try. (22-5). The half-finished with Dan and Tom C attacking the Bognor defences but did not manage to breech it before the whistle went.

Bognor had come with only a 15 man squad and with an injury to one of their boys Ryan volunteered to play at full back for Bognor. Bognor came alive in the second half and early phases edge the ball closer to Heathfield try line. The forwards kept their opposite pack at bay for a couple of further phases, but from a maul Ryan peeled off on the blind side to take the ball over for Bognor’s second score 22-10.

For the remaining 15 minutes several players were in unfamiliar positions Luke played centre, Theo was loitering somewhere in the backs and Max ended up as scrum half. For the next five minutes neither side could put together any phases of play, some good tackling from Will and Freddie; another good short burst by Dan with Ollie eventually relieving the pressure with a well-placed penalty clearance kick. From the resulting line out the Heathfield forwards mauled the ball closer to the try line, Bognor infringed and Tom De B drove over from a quickly taken penalty (27-10).

Ryan, who had now switched with Jay as the Bognor reserve, decided to even up his try count. Theo started with the ball, passed to Ed N. Theo received the ball back and despite some good tackling by Jay at full back (on behalf of Bognor) Ryan supported well and took the try, Dan converted moving the score along to 34-10. Theo, Ed and Tom C combined well for a quick follow-up try (39-10). The final score was thanks to another driving run through several players by Connor supported by Ed J who passed to Ed N for the try to make the final tally 44-10.

Once again a great team effort which shows how the squad have all developed over the past few months. Whilst the boys seemed to enjoy themselves there is still work to do on focusing on the game to ensure that less penalties are given away for poor decision making and some misguided discipline. Thanks to Bognor for making it a competitive friendly, they were unlucky not to have the ball go to hand on a number of occasions which would have made the final score far closer than it was. We look forward to playing them again next season.