Over the past few seasons the Lewes and Heathfield squads have been evenly matched in ability and numbers which was fortunate because with the Sussex county game and inter-county divisional games both sides were down on numbers but still fielded full sides.

From the off Heathfield dominated with the pack going much of the early possession. Tyler dug the ball out spun it down the line to Edward on the wing, he was well tackled but Tom T had followed his pass and was in close support to take the pop pass to open the scoring. The heavily waterlogged pitch made the going really heavy underfoot. Once again a solid platform provided by the pack gave the backs the chance to mount another attack. Lewes were quickly up as a line all game and were organised enough not to leave any gaps in the defensive line, certainly in the start of the game. Seeing progress was slow, Jay chipped an excellent cross field kick which was caught at full tilt by Edward who scored, Tom C converted to make the score 12-0. A quick third try and conversion followed thanks to some great rucking and turn over work from the forwards.

Lewes started to put together some good rugby and camped on the Heathfield try line. They were only kept out thanks to some fantastic tackling. Lewes was eventually driven back up the pitch and the half ended 19-0.

The momentum continued into the second half with the boys really wanting the ball, it was good to see the support and off-loads being used intelligently and skilfully given the increasingly muddy conditions. Mackenzie made a great pick up on a loose ball and ran twenty yards to score. For a while Heathfield were down to 13 men. The referee had a good game and did brief the boys that the only voice he wanted to hear was that of the two captains; some forgot this advice and this indiscipline resulted in a yellow card. The other was for a high tackle which seemed to be in abundance but not all were as dealt with as severely. Still not to be deterred the boys continued to throw the ball around with backs supporting forwards and several phases later led to a try by Charlie.

The forwards really played some great work as a unit and notably Will B made some timely tackles on a couple of occasions when the Lewes players thought they were through and away. Connor also performed some notable tackles on a few of the Lewes backs which may have made them think twice about going on the blind side.

For their part Lewes were guilty of playing as Heathfield have in previous games, that is relying on trying to plough through the middle and not using their players out wide. Their wings were both quick and in particular the small left wing had a great game making some excellent tackles and short sharp line breaking runs. Also Lewes did not close down the Heathfield players and let them run through too many upright tackles.

Two more tries were scored the first from Connor who picked up from No.8 ran a line to draw his opposite number and created the space with a well-timed side step to straighten his run to score under the posts. The final try underlines Heathfield’s commitment to supporting play which had been evident all game. The backs hassled Lewes and managed to turnover ball on our 22 yard line, Edward was tackled but with George H in close he called for the ball and ran from Heathfield 22 to make the final score 41-0. The best all round team performance so far this season and given the conditions handling and support play was excellent.

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