Heathfield & Waldron RFC Colts v Brighton RFC Colts

Heathfield & Waldron RFC Colts v Brighton RFC Colts – 15th December 2019
Result: 53-5 (win for Heathfield)
It has become traditional at this point of the year for sporting hacks, even the inadequate amateur ones that pen local rugby reports such as these, to make a series of excruciating seasonal puns in their ramblings about the games they have witnessed. So here goes. In a match where some stars shone brightly, and where the three wise men of Goatcher, Tiley (and Reilly?) looked on from afar, Heathfield benefitted from some gift-wrapped chances to clinch the arrival of a decisive result of which even King Herod would have approved ... perhaps we had better move on swiftly.
Being based in a decently-sized metropolis, Brighton have generally been reckoned to have had the potential of a wealth of playing resources at their disposal, but this doesn’t seem to have transferred to this particular colts side – or at least not on this occasion. The visitors arrived two players short at Cypress Field, and Heathfield, whose numbers have been reasonably reliable and healthy this season, were able to lend them a couple (including Jack Dunnell, who propped well) to make up their fifteen. At the post-lunchtime kick-off, angry clouds were beginning to scud in from the west, carrying with them the menace of the icy, stinging rain that had constituted much of weather earlier that morning. Heathfield kicked off into this crisp breeze and, within four minutes, Luca Rosenberg had made a good opening burst through the Brighton centres, delivering a low one-handed pass which Carr hacked on and then controlled at the ruck, and from which debutant Ryan Shields was then able to shrug off an attempted tackle to blast over on the left. A fine conversion from Tom Reilly – how his place-kicking is maturing and growing with confidence – therefore gave Heathfield an early seven-point advantage.
The following period of play saw the home side assert this initial dominance. George Hayter and Ellis Wilson enjoyed space to make bold charges into the opposition ranks, and swift ruck ball and excellent handling gave Rosenberg the chance to bunt through a speculative grubber, indecisively dealt with in the in-goal mud by the Brighton defence and thereby allowing the kicker to slide in and dive on the ball for the second home try. Converted again by Reilly, the lead now stretched to 14. Brighton did have the edge though in the scrums, and their full-back and fly-half also looked dangerous with ball in hand. In response though, Heathfield’s half-backs (Anderson and Reilly) always offered their three-quarters space and opportunity. Latching on to a loose ball, centre Reader streaked down the right to touch down and, shortly afterwards, continued to demonstrate his fine form by completing a brace of scores in quick succession, dummying and slicing through a wrong-footed defensive line after Angus Patterson (the Heathfield full-back) had run a direct line back from a loose kick to set up space out wide. 26-0.
Unusually, twenty-five minutes had elapsed by the time of the first line-out but from that a period of Brighton pressure followed with several determined surges from the back of the scrum by their number 8. This, however, was rather punctured by the same player’s ill-judged use of the boot – and not on the ball either – and he received his marching orders for this loss of temper. He subsequently spent the rest of the match cooling his heels in the chilliest corner of the ground, some distance from his playing companions who were now grimly facing an even more difficult challenge than before. Meanwhile, Oli Tooke was getting through some impressive grunt work up front for Heathfield, and fellow prop Brad Scott was thundering towards his alarmed opponents with some splendid bullocking runs. There was also still time for Heathfield to score one more try before the interval with Hayter plunging over to make half-time score 31-0.
The second half saw Sam Walley, with Matt Anthony is support, continue to perform energetically and with great effect in loose play from the very opening moments. Harry Isbitt, now on as a replacement for Jon Beaton on the right wing, also almost broke away down that flank in the early minutes. Kieran Dudgeon fulfilled a similar role on the left side of the field, and dealt well with Brighton clearing kicks that came his way, one high and looping, with another drilled rather more directly at his midriff from close to point-blank range. With the first, Dudgeon was able to feed Finn Scott-Taggart, offering an excellent supporting line, and the subsequent ruck saw Shields striding away for his second try in the left corner. The next ten minutes became rather more unstructured – a series of hacks and heaves gave little dignity to the shape of play – until Hayter galloped up the middle, splitting the defence in two and creating the space for Carr, insisting that the ball came his way, to dive over in the corner. Tom Reilly, still controlling the game at outside-half, also notched a few minutes later with a stylish dummy and step through a gap close to the line.
Brighton to their credit though had not folded and their pacy full-back soon ran a swerving inside line from the half-way line to outstrip the cover defence for his own try – a much deserved outcome for his efforts. It only remained for the jinking Rosenberg, whom Brighton never really got a grip on all game, to produce one more chip through an exhausted opposition defence and plunge on the ball over the line for his second score. Another well-struck Reilly conversion took the final score to 55-5. This was a really good team performance from the home side, and shows how far they have come since one or two slightly ill-disciplined, disjointed showings at the beginning of the season. One might say it was ‘an early Christmas present’ for their supporters ...

Team: 1. Ollie Tooke; 2. George Hayter; 3. Brad Scott; 4. Ellis Wilson; 5. Oliver Carr; 6. Matt Anthony; 7. Sam Walley; 8. Ryan Shields; 9. Toby Anderson; 10. Tom Reilly; 11. Finn Scott-Taggart; 12. Luca Rosenberg; 13. Cameron Reader; 14. Jon Beaton; 15. Angus Paterson
Replacements: 16. Jack Dunnell for Oli Tooke (35); 17. Kieran Dudgeon for Angus Patterson (35); 18. Harry Isbitt for Jon Beaton (35); Angus Paterson for Oliver Carr (52)

Scores:
4 mins: Heathfield – try (Ryan Shields) and conversion (Tom Reilly): 7-0
9 mins: Heathfield – try (Luca Rosenberg) and conversion (Tom Reilly): 14-0
15 mins: Heathfield – try (Cameron Reader) and conversion (Tom Reilly): 21-0
22 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try (Cameron Reader): 26-0
33 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try (George Hayter): 31-0
Half-time score: 31-0
38 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try (Ryan Shields): 36-0
45 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try (Oliver Carr): 41-0
48 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try (Tom Reilly): 46-0
52 mins: Brighton – unconverted try: 46-5
60 mins: Heathfield – try (Luca Rosenberg) and conversion (Tom Reilly): 53-5
Full-time score: 53-5