Colts beat Worthing comfortably – in the end!

Heathfield kicked off into a setting sun on a mild and very sunny November Sunday! They immediately applied pressure on Worthing but were held well during the early exchanges. Indeed, although much of the play was in the Worthing half, this was an evenly contested period with neither side really able to dominate.

After 18 minutes though, the deadlock was broken when Piers O’Conor ran a set move just inside the Worthing half. A couple of decoy calls saw O’Conor in space and accelerating away from the defence to score a good but unexpected try near the corner. O’Conor failed to convert.

The restart meant much more of the same. Heathfield managed to win or disrupt most of the lineouts against quite a good jumper, were about evens in the scrum and at the breakdown but were not putting enough numbers there to secure really good ball for Kieran Burdett at scrum-half.

Having said that, Burdett was next on the score sheet after 28 minutes. From the halfway line and in space, Burdett slipped the first tackle, stepped the next 2 and finally performed an outrageous “Phil Bennet” step on the fullback to score under the posts. O’Conor converted to take Heathfield into a deserved but hard fought lead of 12 – 0 at half time.

Half Time: Heathfield lead 12 – 0.

The second half saw Worthing really hammer at Heathfield from the kickoff and they ended up with a try by the posts after 5 minutes. In fact the try came from a mix-up from Heathfield on their own put-in from a 5m scrum. The ball squirted out, was not gathered properly and Worthing had the momentum to drive over to score and convert.

With the score now 12 – 7 to Heathfield the game was definitely on!

After 10 minutes, a planned substitution to bring Harry Reilly on at fullback and switch the front row to Adam Davies, Lewis Golding, Max Ellery with Alex Borg on the flank paid immediate dividends when a scrum was won against the head 10m inside the Heathfield half. Burdett quickly fed O’Conor who wound up a huge mis-pass to Reilly running a straight line outside the 2 centres. Reilly fended two tacklers and popped an inside pass to the supporting O’Conor who rounded the fullback to score close to the posts. Reilly converted.

5 minutes later saw another score starting from inside Heathfields half. Again a scrum win against the head saw O’Conor miss both centres to Reilly running a straight line. This time Reilly fed Tim Sills on the wing who ran an “in-out” to beat the opposite winger and then fed Henry Jolliffe in from the blindside wing. Jolliffe managed to dot down by the corner flag. The try went unconverted.

4 minutes later the ball was going down the backs but good pressure from Worthing forced the ball to ground. O’Conor, in support and from halfway, picked up on the run, fended the initial 2 tacklers and then burst away straight up the middle of the pitch to score under the posts. O’Conor this time converted.

3 minutes later and after some excellent work in controlling phases and rucks from the forwards, Heathfield again broke out from their own half. This time the try was scored by Tim Sills but the ball went through the hands of all the backs as well as Ellery and Borg in the line before Sills was put clear.

Heathfield had now broken the back of the Worthing defence with 4 unanswered and quite breathtaking tries in a 12 minute burst. Or so it would have appeared.

However, to the huge credit to the Worthing players, they came back strongly and some great running from their hooker and steals from their 6, plus it has to be said some sloppy play from Heathfield, saw Worthing pressing hard in the corner. A number of lineouts and scrums followed deep in the Heathfield 22 until eventually the Worthing hooker broke through to score an unconverted try right in the corner.

Worthing upped their work rate noticeable after this but with only 7 minutes left, Heathfield “managed” the play well. Heathfield turned the ball over on halfway when Worthing were pressing hard to have the last say. Again quick movement and great support play saw the ball quickly moved wide to find Rory Cramp in open space. Cramp cleverly drew the last defender and fed Tim Sills who ran straight in to score the final try. Reilly converted from wide out on the final whistle to see off a very good Worthing side 45 – 12.

Full Time: Heathfield win 45 – 12.

Team: Golding, Borg, Ellery, Ross, Smith, Flett, Higgins, Cramp, Burdett, O’Conor, Sills, Diplock, Lloyd, Jones, Jolliffe, Davies, Brown, Reilly.