Heathfield Ladies finished their best season yet with a strong six tries to one win over Pulborough Ladies in front of a decent crowd in good conditions in spite of the recent inclement weather.
Heathfield marked the occasion with a well-attended VPs lunch and the adequately refreshed crowd were then treated to a fine performance by the home team, especially in the first half.
The pitch was still claggy after recent rain but if anything it improved during the afternoon with some sunshine and steady breeze up the slight slope. Heathfield had first use of the slope and dominated the opening minutes with some committed rugby.
Lauren Duly made an important early steal and the ball was carried on by Kayleigh Honeyball to build a good position on the left hand side. These two players went on to have big games in their respective roles with Duly competing strongly at close quarters and Honeyball frequently carrying the ball for many hard-earned yards as well as solid scrummaging. Good hands then moved the ball back right and Lizzie Suggitt charged over near the right hand corner.
With barely ten minutes gone skipper Carol Saunders collected the second try as she broke through several tackles after a number of phases with good ball retention. As usual Saunders was at the heart of most of Heathfield’s good work.
Most of the play was in the visitors’ half with Caitlin Flower often leading her back line forward effectively as they benefited from adequate possession from the pack.
On the half hour Pulborough were handicapped by an injury to their influential no 8 and it was probably no coincidence that soon afterwards a dominant Heathfield scrum on the right hand side allowed Saunders to make good ground into the visitors 22 and Becky Taylor was on hand to touch down.
The half ended with secure possession from a lineout carried on inevitably by Saunders before being moved left and Suggitt doubled her try tally on the day with a strong finish on the left hand side for the bonus point try.
In the earlier game between these two sides Pulborough had come back to challenge an early Heathfield lead so the half time score of 20-0 was not felt to be decisive. Heathfield generally had an edge in the scrummage while Pulborough challenged well at the front of the lineout but seemed to have some exaggeratedly complicated lineout calls which confused everybody, especially themselves.
From four tries to nil down many sides would have accepted their fate but Pulborough now demonstrated excellent resilience and skill so that they had the better of the third quarter in spite of their several injuries.
The visitors’ outside centre made one especially effective run from deep, beating off several less than impressive home tackles, before being stopped in the home 22. Sadly she then had to retire with an injury. Pulborough continued to play with skill and ambition with one move starting in their own 22 only just being ended on the home try line by important last ditch tackles by replacements Holly Brooks and Sophia Macdonald.
Entering the last quarter Pulborough received deserved reward for their efforts as a tap penalty was well exploited for a try.
However this also served to wake up the home team who had arguably been a little complacent thus far in this half. Velvet Turner was noted with several strong carries boshing opponents out of the way.
Most of the rest of the game was in the visitors’ half starting with yet another storming run by Saunders who initially outran her support before the cavalry arrived and then Macdonald flew up the left hand side before unselfishly allowing Brooks to finish.
Then Macdonald finally received the ball in space and this talented player would have been looking forward to demonstrating her pace and skill but the ref had to blow for a potential serious injury.
The last try came from broken play as Amber Lovick, who had made multiple useful runs in heavy traffic, finally received the ball with a little bit of space on the left flank and she finished the scoring emphatically.
Suggitt, with two tries already on the day, was on hand for the last try but was not needed. This was Suggitt’s last game before stopping playing for family reasons but as Taylor demonstrates this is clearly not a necessarily final circumstance.
Pulborough will have made the trek back to West Sussex with justified pride in their performance, especially in the second half and Heathfield will look forward to renewing the contest against them next season.
Heathfield’s head coach Dan Suggitt was delighted with the overall team performance with some of their best rugby this year as the team has clearly improved over the season. All of the bench contributed on the day and the depth of players available continues to give pleasingly difficult selection problems for the coaches.
Heathfield finish the league season in clear second place and having given the league winners Streatham & Croydon two close and competitive games. As a note of caution it should be observed that Canterbury who dominated this league last year are currently bottom of the league above – it’s steep uphill from here!
Suggitt’s retirement from the game was duly and emotionally noted in the post match ceremony although it was also remarked that some of the ladies seemed to finish their beers faster than the mens’ senior chairman who was also involved.
Nonetheless both Heathfield’s men and women’s senior teams have achieved their highest ever league positions which will be duly celebrated at the club awards day on 13th May.

Team
1. Amber Lovick 2. Sam Chan 3. Kayleigh Honeyball 4. Velvet Turner 5. Lauren Duly 6. Zoe Barr 7. Becky Taylor 8. Carol Saunders 9. Britt Mole 10. Caitlin Flower 11. Chip Chippett 12 Sophia Skinner 13. Lizzie Suggitt 14. Katie Burer 15. Jasmin Lewis
Bench
16. Poppy Eacott 17. Hannah Wood 18. Stephanie Chipps 19. Sam Crook 20. Phoebe Morgan 21. Sophia Macdonald 22. Holly Brooks