Heathfield & Waldron RFC Colts v East Grinstead Colts (Cup quarter-final)

Heathfield & Waldron RFC Colts v East Grinstead Colts (Cup quarter-final) – 8th March 2020
Result: 5-17 (win for East Grinstead)
At last – some rugby, and a bright and breezy spring day to boot at the almost sylvan setting of Waldron’s sloping
fields. In a day of opposites and surprising contrasts, two gnarly former flankers could even be observed by the
sharp-eyed before the match appreciating the green emergent shoots of bluebells and debating whether the small
stream-side plant they had been studying in the nearby wood was Chrysosplenium alternifolium or oppositifolium.
That should debunk one or two hoary old myths about the lack of sophistication of rugby forwards.
Back on Waldron’s top pitch, the game was soon to kick off. The visitors have had a fine season so far, lie at the top
of the Premiership in Sussex, and had beaten Heathfield comfortably in a somewhat niggly game earlier in the
season. They might have therefore expected this to be a comfortable, although mud-spattered, stroll to victory
especially with a freshening breeze at their backs in the first half. Although Grinstead’s line-out was impressive, the
breeze and the unrelenting determination of the home side kept the game tight throughout. This, in fact, was one of
those matches where elegant back moves were most likely to end in a foozled drop, followed by an undignified
scramble on the ground. Much more productive were short, sharp, well-supported drives that produced securely
recycled ruck ball: both teams had periods where they used this particular tactic well. Occasionally, some observers
felt, particularly when playing with the wind at one’s back, more use could have been made of the ball being belted
in unambiguous fashion downwind and downfield which might force the opposition to run back in testing conditions.
However, Heathfield’s back three, with Hamish McAlister and Jon Beaton prominent, dealt very well with such stuff
that came his way.
In any case, the visitors in blue and white had scored early, after six minutes, after their open-side had made
significant headway. Heathfield almost levelled a few minutes, exerting considerable pressure and effecting a charge-
down close to the visitors’ line, but the chance came and went on the wind. Back came Grinstead, only for a splendid
charge by Heathfield’s hooker, George Hayter, from his own 22 to clear the danger and loosen the tightening noose.
With the score only 0-5 at half-time and with the arrival of an icy wind-driven downpour to replace the earlier
glimpses of clouded sun at the start of the second half, Heathfield might well have fancied their chances of snatching
an unexpected victory. Cam Reader ran straight and hard in the centre – any ill-judged attempt to side-step tended
to result in a sludgy slither, slip or slide – and Luca Rosenberg (now at scrum-half) broke intelligently down the blind-
side to chip over the defence on a couple of occasions. Grinstead just about scrambled to deal with those threats,
and also were able to counter the tight, driving play of Jack Flint, Oliver Carr and Ellis Wilson with thrusts of their
own. One such series of powerful surges from their weighty forward pack indeed took Grinstead close enough to the
Heathfield line, giving the opportunity for one of their number to lunge over for a try that was subsequently to be
converted. 0-12 with 25 minutes left.
The game now entered a period of what could be described as ‘understandably scrappy’ play, with the occasional
dropped ball splatting into the mud like a carelessly handled egg in a mucky chicken coup. As often happens, one
such dropped pass in the Grinstead centres momentarily wrong-footed the home defence, allowing the Grinstead
full-back to scoop up the ball and race home from close to half-way for what felt like a fine individual and decisive
try. It certainly took a bit of the sting out of the contest.
Heathfield, however, were not done yet, even if there were now only five minutes left. Their scrum, increasingly
dominant in the second period, gave them notable impetus as the closing moments drew closer. A further sequence
of controlled blasts at the visitors’ line by forwards and backs combined eventually gave the impressive George
Callow the chance to squeeze in tight to the left-hand corner flag for a deserved score in the last play of the game.
On that point the match concluded, in decent spirit and with many faces caked in Sussex clay as if both squads had
indulged in some expensive beauty treatment, the players wisely left the match for the comparative warmth of the
clubhouse.
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. Finn Scott-Taggart; 10. Tom Reilly; 11. Matt Anthony; 12. Luca Rosenberg (c); 13. Cam Reader; 14. Jon
Beaton; 15. Hamish McAlister
Replacements: 16. Fin Harman (10-35) for Tiley; 17. Jack Dunnell (35) for Tooke; 18. Kieran Dudgeon (35) for
Anthony; Anthony for McAlister (59)
Scores:
6 mins: East Grinstead – unconverted try: 0-5
Half-time score: 0-5
45 mins: East Grinstead – converted try: 0-12
66 mins: East Grinstead – unconverted try: 0-17
70 mins: Heathfield – unconverted try: 5-17
Full-time score: 5-17