Aylesford Bulls 14 Heathfield 19
In the final minutes Heathfield snatched what had appeared to be an unlikely win against a robust Aylesford Bulls side who belied their position at the bottom of the table with a combative performance.
The pitch was in remarkably good condition considering the amount of recent rain and the nearness of the River Medway. A steady breeze was initially diagonally across the pitch but during the game it gradually shifted to be directly down the slight slope.
Heathfield had first use of that slope although it was afterwards commented that neither side made particularly good use of the conditions. The early play was chiefly notable for the high error count by both sides which probably reflected the lack of recent match practice over the Christmas and New Year break.
Heathfield started to build some pressure into the bottom corner but on two occasions attacking lineouts went wrong thus spoiling good opportunities.
After 15 minutes a messy broken play situation near the right hand touch line allowed Toby Simpson to make his first important impact on the game as he gathered up loose ball, chipped ahead, regathered and then finished well under the posts for a fine solo score, which he naturally converted.
Heathfield had another period of pressure but a good attack into the right hand corner was spoiled by a penalty. This encouraged Aylesford who now came into the game much more with their scrummage in particular exerting pressure on the visitors. A period of Aylesford pressure on the Heathfield try line was eventually adjudged to have been held up.
The half ended with another Heathfield attack at the other end but a promising attack failed with a knock on.
At half time Aylesford will have been optimistic of securing a welcome, and indeed first, win this season with the conditions to come in their favour. Their set piece was in good shape and their backs looked keen to move the ball.
It would be safe to say that players on both sides had difficulty understanding many of the referee’s decisions. How players deal with that circumstance is a classic rugby test of character. The higher penalty count in the second half is mainly explained by the number of penalties for backchat, especially against Heathfield which cost them several good attacking positions.
Aylesford scored an excellent try in the opening minutes of the half as the ball was worked wide from left to right and then after a couple of phases they collected a try in the right hand corner which was impressively converted in tricky conditions.
Dion Comerford now had to retire injured , doubtless with good wishes from his former teammates, and was replaced by Harry Slinnhawkins who made a highly promising first appearance in senior rugby.
Soon afterwards Sam Crichton and Rees Web were replaced by Will Chambers and George Hayter and both made useful contributions.
However Aylesford now had their best period of the game with consistent pressure on the visitors line and approaching the three quarter point collected a deserved try from short range (14-7).
At this point the momentum appeared to be with the home side and the visiting supporters were not looking optimistic. However before the game the comment was made in the home clubhouse that theirs was a team that had forgotten how to win and this proved to be accurate. By contrast Heathfield’s Head Coach Dave Cook had been urging his side to play with a higher tempo and they started to achieve this in the last quarter.
From the restart Heathfield charged into the top left hand corner and persistent pressure resulted in a yellow for a home second row. Heathfield failed to exploit the extra man and Aylesford duly counter-attacked aided by penalties for back chat by the visitors.
However Heathfield were now starting to play with the tempo required by their coaches and again Simpson provided the initial spark from broken play near the touchline. Although he was eventually brought down the ball was moved to Slinnhawkins who was agonisingly close to a try on his debut appearance but was just brought down a few yards out.
A resulting home scrummage gave the ball to their fly half in the goal area and he appeared (to me at any rate from a considerable distance) to knock the ball on and a following Heathfield player touched down. However the decision was a drop out.
More Heathfield pressure produced another home yellow card for some malpractice at the break down and most of the play for the rest of the game was in the home half.
This time Heathfield did benefit from the extra man as a lineout was secured by Dylan Eames (who had a solid all round game) and then driven for Chambers to touch down in the corner. If the conversion of the first Aylesford try was good, Simpson now bettered that with this conversion from the touchline into a stiff breeze (14-14).
With a reported 6 minutes remaining any result was possible but Heathfield finished the stronger. Play was all over the pitch but then Harry Reilly ran a fine line in broken play and in due course Jay Massey-Taylor worked his way over for the deciding score. Simpson hit the post with the conversion but that didn’t matter as the clock had run out.
Rugby can be unkind and Aylesford probably deserved at least a draw from this well-contested and entertaining contest. They are well led by example by skipper Phil Wilkins and there was an impressive performance by newcomer Jack Ireland in the second row. The quality of their rugby today belies their lowly position in the league table and it will be surprising if they do not upset some supposedly higher ranked sides in the rest of the season.
A senior womens professional rugby player who watched today’s game afterwards commented that Aylesford had failed to exploit their relative set piece superiority while Heathfield had missed too many opportunities, especially in the first half.
Next week Heathfield entertain Ashford who today secured a big win over Cranbrook so they will arrive in good heart. Heathfield just beat Ashford in the fixture earlier this season so this promises to be a good contest with the clubs closely matched in the league table. (14 Jan 2.00)