Well this was disappointing! Heathfield’s recent good run of results across all senior teams came to a muddy halt as Battersea took their chances better and overall looked the better side.
The game was played on the pitch outside the Heathfield clubhouse which provided a soft and slimy surface and inevitably degraded as the game went on. On a cold day this led to multiple handling errors. One has to sympathise with wingers with cold muddy fingers standing around waiting for the ball which then arrives at ankle height. Thankfully forecast rain did not arrive.
Heathfield were in their new black change strip as Battersea normally play in green. This naturally confused home supporters used to supporting the ‘Greenies’.
Heathfield had some early pressure and a tap penalty saw the ball driven up to the visitors’ try line but it was adjudged to have been held up.
Almost immediately a kicking exchange ended with Battersea running back down the left flank with some decent handling (and at least one sub-optimal tackle) allowing the scorer to jog round under the posts to enable an easy conversion.
Much of the rest of the half saw a disjointed midfield battle with few extended periods of play. The multiple errors arising from the conditions were partly responsible but the unusually high penalty count against both teams further disrupted any flow – 20 in total almost equally divided between the teams. The second half had only slightly fewer.
With about five minutes left in the half Battersea scored their second try in an almost identical manner to their first as a kicking exchange ended with good handling down the left flank and another try under the posts. Battersea generally had the better of the kicking contest with greater distance and often better tactical choices.
The set piece was even. Neither dominated the scrummage while the conditions inevitably led to lineout fumbles.
Heathfield did have the slight slope to come in their favour in the second half. However Battersea ignored that and soon worked their way into the home 22. A tap penalty was quickly moved wide and the left winger finished in the corner under some pressure.
Finally Heathfield now started to put some consistent phases together mainly through driving by the forwards. This produced a penalty on the visitors’ 22 and Megan Plane duly collected the three points.
Much of the play was now in the visitors’ half. Entering the last quarter a tap penalty 5m out from the try line was eventually exploited by Steph Chipps for a try. A Battersea player was binned for some malpractice in the associated heap of bodies.
At 8-19 with more than fifteen minutes remaining there may have been some hopes of closing the gap further but Battersea showed their quality and had the better of the rest of the game. In the last minutes a kick ahead led to a confused situation on the home try line resulting in a penalty try and bonus point for Battersea and a yellow card for Phoebe Morgan.
There was just time for a very few phases but which included a yellow for Chipps for a high tackle and then the final whistle went.
There were no complaints from Heathfield afterwards as they recognised that Battersea were the best side on the day and had handled the conditions better. Coach Dan Suggitt felt that his bench had provided some needed energy to the team with Christi-Rose Pretorius being particularly mentioned. He commented that perhaps the squad had not previously experienced three hard games in a row and had generally lacked energy. This game was a considerable contrast to the earlier game between these two teams which had been a close contest right to the final whistle.
For Battersea their half backs in particular looked useful and their coach also picked out their outside centre Selina Keppie. The league looks to be a close contest between them and Beckenham.
At least Heathfield now have a week off before returning to Dartford Valley (8 Feb 2.00).