The Ladies eventually collected a bonus point win against old enemies Dartford Valley although they had to recover from 0-13 down after half an hour. Pleasingly the game was watched by a good crowd of supporters as this team continues to be successful while playing attractive rugby.
Last season there was little to choose between these two teams as they battled over the top spot in NC1. So far this season both teams had won one game and lost two although the Heathfield losses had been much closer than the visitors’.
In spite of significant rain overnight rain, conditions were good on a dry, mostly sunny day with a breeze down the slight slope away from the clubhouse. However the earlier volume of precipitation onto Sussex clay made for a tacky surface that made running difficult for all involved.
Dartford started brightly and soon collected a penalty which was impressively knocked over by Lauren Hunt to open the scoring. Her contribution with the boot from tee and the hand was a major element in her team’s performance on the day. Naturally Heathfield charged back with skipper Carol Saunders as usual leading by example. However penalties knocked the home side back and the Hunt boot duly took toll for another three points with little over ten minutes on the clock.
The game now settled down to a midfield struggle with neither side in control. Lib Lawrence and Georgia Reed-Davies particularly caught the eye at this stage. The Hunt boot was pushing the home side back but the Heathfield defence was generally coping well and there was some good handling in counter-attacks although their kicking lacked accuracy at this stage.
Then a Dartford attack into the left hand corner looked to have been snuffed out but the referee overruled the Dartford touch judge and awarded a try. Hunt continued her successful day with a fine conversion.
The score was now a slightly concerning 0-13. However that was the end of the good news for Dartford and Heathfield dominated the last ten minutes with three good tries. First Reed-Davies was on the end of some good handling. Then Georgia Grey and Britt Mole worked well together and Lawrence was able to dive over for a good team try.
Momentum was clearly with Heathfield and they now turned over a visitors’ scrum enabling Sophia Skinner to collect the next score. In the dying moments of the half Dartford had another penalty chance but this time the Hunt boot was just wide.
At 17-13 the final outcome was by no means clear. However Heathfield had the slight slope and breeze to come in their favour. Dartford were occasionally using the not-engage technique at the lineout – although not everyone agreed with the referee’s interpretation of this circumstance.
The home scrummage had looked to have an edge and this was ruthlessly exploited early in the second half as on three occasions the visitors’ scrum was driven back yards resulting in a penalty or ruined possession. Nonetheless the visitors’ front row thereafter mostly held their own in this phase in spite of being noticeably outweighted. The visitors’ coach particularly mentioned their tight head Chloe Smith for her efforts in this phase and in helping to rally her team under pressure.
While most of the game was in the visitors’ half, Heathfield were handicapping themselves by some querying of the referee’s decisions which allowed the visitors to build an attack into the top corner. Once this had been contained Heathfield broke out chiefly through a fine touchline run by Steph Chipps from a lineout.
Heathfield now built pressure into the bottom corner. A seriously confused event in that corner with a charge down in the dead ball area ended with a Heathfield 5m scrum and no 8 Saunders was not going to be denied behind a dominant pack for the bonus point try. Megan Plane’s conversion from wide out just came back off the crossbar.
While the result was now clear, my notes comment that the game felt disjointed. To their credit Dartford were not daunted by the situation and worked their way into the home 22. However the home defence as usual proved adequate and eventually Plane broke out down the left flank. With one defender left she chose to chip ahead and then had the pace to win the race to touch down under the posts.
Heathfield could have collected another try in the last play but the pass was forward and the game was over.
Dan Suggitt, Heathfield Head Coach, was generally pleased with the whole team performance. The excellent numbers currently training mean that selection is increasingly diffiicult. Lawrence was probably the standout performer on the day while Amber Lovick was a massive influence in the front row.
The clubhouse was buzzing when I left as the team let their hair down – although that might not apply to Velvet Turner who had reportedly let hers down even before the game.
Next Heathfield visit one of the oldest rugby clubs ever when they visit Blackheath which was founded in about 1856, a mere 125 years before Heathfield and is probably the oldest independent club as opposed to one based on an institution. Irrespective of history Heathfield will look to continue their strong showing in Championship 2 (8 Nov 2.00)