Late try snatches result against awkward opponents

Farnham Ladies 7 Heathfield Ladies 10
Heathfield eventually snatched a win in the last minutes against a dogged Farnham team in the first game between these two clubs at any level.
A two hour journey with motorway delays is less than ideal preparation for a game. The late withdrawal of Chip Chippett resulted in significant changes within the team as Hanna Wood came to hooker with Amber Lovick moving to second row and Clare Baker to the centre.
The firm but occasionally variable wind was a major factor on the day. Farnham didn't really exploit it in the first half and Heathfield only did so occasionally in the second.
One of Farnham's few kicks on the day not only gained ground but broke the windscreen on a large SUV parked too near the pitch.
Early play was disrupted by several penalties with a couple in the scrummage against Heathfield although this soon seemed to be sorted out.
After ten minutes Farnham had some pressure on the visitors’ line and they worked their way over from short range for the opening score which, significantly, was also converted.
However this merely sparked Heathfield into life and saw the start of some decent handling to drive the home side back.
This resulted in 5 m scrum on the home try line from which turnover ball allowed Sophia Skinner to work her way over for an important score at the end of the first quarter (7-5).
Sadly Skinner had to retire with an injury soon afterwards, the first of several injuries which were to have a big impact on the team's performance.
At this stage Heathfield were playing some decent rugby with their handling clearly troubling their opposition so the wind advantage was being nullified. Maya Champion was controlling the game well and often linked effectively with Clare Baker to make good ground. Champion was also noted with some feisty tackling.
Amber Lowick made some decent carries as did the home number 8 but generally defences held. The scrum battle was now even and Heathfield even managed a turnover in that phase.
Georgia Gale was another who had to retire through injury adding to the disruption of the back division.
At half time Heathfield will have looked at the score line of 7-5 and with the wind in their favour to come will have felt a degree of confidence in the outcome. However they never really exploited the wind as much as one might have hoped.
Early in the second half Poppy Eacott had to give up physio duties to replace Abi Bandtock- although the latter rejoined the contest later. Also Britt Mole had to retire causing more disruption although she also returned later on.
The home scrum started to exert some pressure given the changes in the Heathfield pack and this seemed to encourage the rest of their game. They had one particularly good period of play working their way out of their own half and were only finally held a few metres out from the Heathfield line. However in a crucial scrummage Heathfield turned over the ball and cleared their lines.
Most of the second half was a scrappy affair with neither side in control and frequent stops for injury. Additionally play was interrupted by far too many penalties – 8 against Farnham and 11 against Heathfield in this half alone. The referee was noted with the use of more free kicks than usual otherwise the count would have been even higher.
Heathfield had continued to show flashes of good play and when the referee announced that there were just eight minutes left this seemed to concentrate minds. A good sequence of play took Heathfield up to the right hand corner and from a tap penalty the ball went through several hands before Mole dived over for the deciding score.
Farnham still had a couple of minutes to try to retrieve a result but the visitors’ defence proved adequate to the task and a final penalty against the home side ended the contest.
Heathfield will have been glad to have secured an away win against awkward opponents in spite of the multiple injuries before and during the game.
Wood was particularly praised for playing the entire 80 minutes when she had only been expecting to be on the bench and did well on a tough day in the front row. It is almost routine but still needs commenting that the best of Heathfield’s play often came from skipper Carol Saunders and Becky Taylor.
Coach Chris Ambrosino commented that this was a game that Heathfield would have lost a few years ago but that they have developed a tough streak, epitomised by Saunders, which enables them to fight through difficult times and which allowed them to snatch this late victory.
The result means that after two matches Heathfield are one of the four unbeaten teams in their league but this is going to be a long tough season with even harder games to come.
There may be a cup game next week but the next league game is at home in two weeks against Guildford Gazelles (8 Oct 2.00)

Team
1. Kaylee Honeyball 2. Hannah Wood 3. Abi Bandtock 4 Velvet Turner 5. Amber Lovick 6. Luren Duly 7. Beck Taylor 8. Carol Saunders 9. Britt Mole 10. Maya Champion 11. Georgia Gale 12. Sophia Skinner 13. Clare Baker 14 Lib Lawrence 15. Jazz Lewis
Replacements
16. Poppy Eacott 17. Jack Hood 18. Georgia Reed-Davies 19 Robyn Pope 20 Holly Brook