Heathfield 27 Aylesford Bulls 8
Heathfield secured a five try bonus point win over familiar opponents Aylesford Bulls who were considerably weakened on the day by absentees on a stag weekend. There should be a law against players getting married during the season as Heathfield suffered similarly last season.
It has to be said that Heathfield were also missing two senior players who were taking part in the same social event but their absence was less significant than for Aylesford who had several players making their first appearance at this level.
Conditions were lovely. A rain squall an hour before kick off freshened up the pitch – and the players doing their warmups. Otherwise it was a generally sunny day with little significant wind and the pitch in excellent condition.
Heathfield started strongly when Toby Simpson placed a precise kick into the visitors’ 22 and thus secured an attacking lineout under the 50-22 law. A clean catch by skipper Gus Taylor was driven on and Dylan Eames finished strongly to open the scoring.
Aylesford charged back and in one of their best moves on the day went close in the top corner after some fine support play. They collected a penalty as fair reward.
However Heathfield were starting to take control with the lineout being especially strong as Jem MacVicker dominated the front of the lineout to the considerable disadvantage of the visitors. They also caught the referee’s eye and ear for the wrong reason, being marched back several times for backchat.
On fifteen minutes good rucking produced useful turnover ball which was moved left and Lucas Cuming eventually found Simpson who dived into the left hand corner.
Aylesford were now handicapped by a yellow for their tight head for some misbehaviour at a breakdown. Eames had to retire briefly with a shoulder issue and was replaced very effectively by birthday boy Regan Law.
A penalty now gave Heathfield good field position in the bottom corner and another effective lineout by MacVicker was exploited through a couple of phases before Sam Crichton had too much power for the defence. Simpson converted (17-3)
At this stage Heathfield were bossing most phases of the game with the scrum in particular proving pleasingly secure alongside an efficient lineout. A secure attacking scrum on the visitors 5m line gave Taylor the sort of opportunity that no 8s love and he duly collected the third try.
The fourth and bonus point try arrived shortly before half time as another good scrum allowed Taylor to feed fly half Harry Reilly who crashed over for the halftime score of 22-3.
Although the home side had the benefit of the slight slope and what little wind there was in the first period, it seemed unlikely that the visitors could turn the game around even with conditions more in their favour in the second half.
Indeed Heathfield started the second half strongly with several good attacks into the left hand corner. However twice attacking lineouts were called not straight and thus good opportunities wasted. Indeed from one of these situations Aylesford ran the ball from their own 22, chipped ahead and skilfully retrieved the ball before more good handling and strong running gave them a try in the left hand corner.
Archie Adam was starting to make his presence felt with a number of startling runs, squirming out of tackles and making useful ground in tight situations.
At one point there was a brief kicking duel with neither side apparently gaining advantage until an Aylesford player was binned, reportedly for obstruction of a chasing player. However Heathfield were unable to take advantage of the extra man, not least because Simpson was soon binned for malpractice at the breakdown thus nullifying the advantage.
With half an hour remaining Coach Dave Cook emptied his bench with Law, Jay Massey-Taylor and Max Redman joining the fray, all doing well.
Redman soon looked to have been presented with a simple try scoring opportunity down the right flank but the pass was adjudged forward. Hooker Dan Bird also caught the eye with a strong charge down the same line.
Heathfield’s last try was the most dynamic and clinical of the day as a precise lineout on the visitors 22 was driven on at pace and Tom Cornwall inevitably claimed the touchdown as the defence splintered.
To their credit Aylesford now had their best period of play with several surges into the bottom corner. They were considerably helped in this by actually winning two successive lineouts, a phase that had let them down until that point. However the home defence was in no mood to concede anything with Ollie Tooke in particular making some seriously good tackles.
Cornwall was now binned for some alleged crime at a breakdown but the home try line was not seriously threatened thereafter.
Heathfield had one last attack into the left hand corner with Adam and Redman much involved but the last pass went astray and the game ended soon after.
The Heathfield coaches took especial pleasure in the performance of the front row today with all three contributing strongly in the tight and loose. In particular Jack Ruddock in his first start of the season for work reasons provided solidity at loose head along with some decent carries and tackles. Bird enjoyed being back at hooker and Tooke enhanced his growing reputation in all phases.
Skipper Taylor, Crichton and MacVicker were also mentioned in despatches. Aylesford were clearly handicapped by their absentees. Their flanker Luke Stroud and scrum half George Ayres did especially well under considerable pressure. Heathfield know that the return fixture in early January will be a fiercely contested affair.
Results elsewhere are confusing. Cranbrook remain the one unbeaten side but have only played three matches compared to some who have played five so the league table is not truly representative of relative strengths. The sad withdrawal of Crowborough from their game at Deal is a symptom of the issues facing the mens’ game generally as the number of players declines. Some of the odd results in this league may well be down to player availability issues which have a greater effect on smaller clubs
Next Saturday Heathfield entertain Beccehamians in the postponed game from the first week of the season. They have had some impressive wins already this season including away at Folkestone today (8 Oct 3.00).