We live in strange and troubled times. There was an air of uncertain fragility and finality to this game, that this might well be the last time colts rugby may be played this season: other factors for consideration, rightly, will probably make the decision for us all anyway. As far as the match itself was concerned, it was one of frustration for the home side who dominated both possession and territory for the vast majority of the 70 minutes but could not make it pay in the face of determined and well-organised Lewes defence. In contrast, the visitors’ backs looked sharp when they moved the ball and scored two well-taken tries, one of which was decisively converted.
Heathfield started well – Jack Flint, Olly Carr and Sam Tiley all had prominent drives in loose play early on. Despite looking lighter in the scrum they also had the nudge there, and the front row of George Hayter, George Callow and Oli Tooke were also making their presence felt around the park. When tackles need to be made as Lewes fought their way out of their half, Kieran Dudgeon on the wing and particularly the pocket battleship of Cam Reader, in thundering fashion in the centre, made them. Tom Reilly, at outside-half, made some useful tackles of his own and even won ball at a ruck, an unusual occurrence for the glamour position in any side.
However, despite this early dominance, Heathfield could not find a way to score. Clumsy penalties and small errors mounted, and Lewes’s back row worked successfully in predatory fashion with any subsequent loose ball. Still, pressure was maintained on the Lewes line – Hayter made a fine break down the centre of the park although his speculative but clever kick ahead was calmly dealt with by the visitors’ full-back. In the end, Lewes won a penalty in the shadow of their own posts only for it to be correctly reversed for some indecorous taunting by one of their own number in celebration of the award, a boorish habit in the current game copied from some in the top flights of rugby who should know better. From the subsequent scrum, number 8 Carr punished that indiscretion, sweeping right and stretching over for the first try after half an hour’s play.
Lewes hit back almost immediately in one of their first attacking spells of the match. Their tighthead prop, a young man of substantial build, worked up a head of steam to barrel down the right-hand side and, when Heathfield missed touch with a clearing kick, their right wing skipped through a couple of unconvincing tackles to complete an impressive individual score. Heathfield, in turn, had one more clatter at the Lewes line before the break – Ellis Wilson, with good support from open-side Sam Walley, continued to make many ‘hard yards’, but yet another knock-on brought the half to a maddening close for the home side.
A change of ends for the second half didn’t seem to alter the pattern of play a great deal. Heathfield gave the opportunity to some fresh faces to the squad with replacements at the interval and continued to press hard, but it seemed testing enough to string together sufficient accurate passes and straight lines of running to develop space and cutting opportunity. Promising positions came and went. Lewes, on the other hand, produced a lovely slick back’s move of their own from a tap penalty to score to the right of the posts, a splendid score subsequently converted neatly.
However, this Heathfield side has shown considerable heart throughout this season and drove back down the field. An attacking scrum gave several forwards an opportunity to batter at the line from the rucks that followed, and it was Joe Lewis who eventually found the strength to thump over for Heathfield’s second score with over fifteen minutes left. There were still moments during which the spirited Lewes defence might have broken in this intense final section of the match but, on at least two occasions, their full back (a fine player with dancing feet when in possession of the ball) saved them with calm covering play. Once the final whistle went, most retreated to the clubhouse to enjoy each other’s rugby company – the last for a while perhaps?
Team: 1. Ollie Tooke; 2. George Hayter; 3. George Callow; 4. Ellis Wilson; 5. Jack Flint; 6. Sam Tiley; 7. Sam Walley; 8. Oliver Carr; 9. Luca Rosenberg (c); 10. Tom Reilly; 11. Jon Beaton; 12. Cam Reader; 13. Finn Scott-Taggart; 14. Kieran Dudgeon; 15. Matt Anthony
Replacements: 16. Zac Dunn (35) for Walley; 17. Joe Lewis (35) for Tiley; 18. Harry Slinn-Hawkins (35) for Matt Anthony; 19. Fin Smith for Dudgeon (35); 20. Hamish McAlister for Beaton (35)

Scores:
31 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try: 5-0
33 mins: Lewes – unconverted try: 5-5
Half-time score: 5-5
44 mins: Lewes – try and conversion: 5-12
54 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try: 10-12
Full-time score: 10-12