Heathfield cruised through their last home league game of the season with a nine try to nil win over Guernsey.
Heathfield have been playing some good rugby in recent weeks (albeit with mixed results!) and this proved too much for the visitors who are handicapped by the extensive traveling involved with consequent availability issues as well as trying to bring on young players. Heathfield had a strong scrum and their big ball carriers consistently provided front foot ball for the back line to exploit.
On a breezy day and a softish but mostly well-grassed pitch Guernsey had first use of the slight slope but conditions were not to be significant on the day.
Heathfield started brightly as Lib Lawrence made the first of her many useful breaks on the day. This was exploited by some good handling and then skipper Carol Saunders made the first of her numerous effective runs before being hauled down near the visitors’ 22.
It was no surprise soon after ten minutes when the first home try arrived from an attacking scrum on the left hand side and good ball was moved into midfield where Sophia Skinner powered over for her first try on the day. Maya Champion’s attempted conversion came back off the post. Ten minutes later this scenario was repeated as good scrum possession and clever passing by fly half Caitlin Flower saw Skinner in for her second. This time Champion’s conversion attempt came back from the crossbar!
The next try soon followed as Amber Lovick had too much power from short range; this time the conversion did not threaten the posts.
In the last few minutes of the half Heathfield ruined a defensive Guernsey scrummage and eventually the resulting penalty allowed Abi Bandtock to bosh her way over from short range for the bonus point try (20-0). Bandtock made any number of surging runs on the day, gaining many yards.
Rivals with Bandtock in yards gained today were Steph Chipps and Georgia-Reed-Davies: the latter now gathered the restart and again charged upfield for a big gain before being stopped.
With the slope to come in the second half Heathfield will have been optimistic of closing out the win as indeed happened. Neither side dominated the lineout with the wind causing problems for all although Becky Taylor normally secured Heathfield ball. Heathfield dominated the scrummage causing serious problems for the visitors’ scrum half and back row who had to scrabble for possession at the base of a retreating scrum.
Flower and Champion were linking well in midfield as they benefited from some delightful offloads from the forwards.
The second half started with more home pressure but on a couple of occasions good opportunities were spoiled by faulty final passes. Nonetheless eventually Skinner benefitted from the sustained pressure to stroll over for her third try. This time Champion’s conversion attempt was successful and she went on to have a better second half in this respect with four successes in total.
Approaching the end of the third quarter Bandtock made another big run that was carried on usefully by Taylor allowing Lawrence to finish well in the left hand corner.
Then a few minutes later the by now rampant home pack ruined a visitors’ scrum and Saunders gratefully grabbed the ball to charge over by the posts.
In spite of the score the game was still being well-contested and the penalty count was mounting against Heathfield, principally for high tackles. As a final warning had just been issued it was not surprising when Lawrence was now binned for that offence.
There was no complaint by Heathfield about this as they were delighted to have a referee who understood the different pace and skill level of the womens’ game after recent different difficulties in this respect. Coincidentally the ref Mr James Robinson had controlled the Heathfield mens’ team the previous day in their Counties 1 Kent league game on the same pitch and had been generally well received for his contribution in that game.
Rugby reality can be quite cruel and Heathfield duly collected two more tries in the last few minutes. First Chip Chippett ran a lovely line following secure possession from an attacking lineout and then Lovick ended her fine game as she powered over by the posts for her second try on the day. Between those two tries the home coaches were a little disappointed (I rephrase to avoid repeating abuse) when (according to the coaches) Heathfield butchered a seven to one overlap.
Afterwards, apart from those mentioned above, the coaches picked out Velvet Turner who did much of the hard and dirty work at close quarters which enabled others to thrive. The ref picked out Taylor for her contribution. Also it was good to see Skinner enjoying a day in the sun (metaphorically) after returning from injury.
Next week Heathfield complete their league season with a visit to Aylesford (14 Apr 2.00).