Gallant effort by Heathfield ends in defeat to Brighton

However, by the end, despite losing this game 29-13, all the players had represented themselves and the club admirably in an undoubted highlight of this season.

The Heathfield players were asked to measure their success on just two things. By and large, throughout the game, they stuck manfully to their task. The execution of this frustrated the Brighton players, and whereas in the friendly earlier in the season when the Brighton tries flowed freely - in today's league game, they were forced to work much much harder for any gains.

Our scrum was solid enough, the midfield was strong, and our wingers stayed out. On the downside, we failed to adjust to the wind, and were generous at the lineout, and - having done so much of the hard work - failed to get off the line very well and allowed a couple of scores too easily.

Heathfield were awarded a penalty try following a string of penalties, converting it, to go with two earlier penalties. At one stage, the optimistic among us (thank you to the vocal sideline support), felt that a losing bonus point was on offer, however the final pass of a promising break from a quick tap went astray, and the opportunity was lost.

In the end, Brighton earned their four tries, and the bonus point to go with it, crossing for a final try with the last play of the game. However, Heathfield can take heart in the fact that they registered 13 points themselves - the most by a team in the league against Brighton to date.