Heathfield 57 Deal & Betteshanger 0
Heathfield duly collected a nine try win over a Deal & Betteshanger side much handicapped by assorted injuries and many of their team being at Twickenham – who may well be wondering if their journey to London was worthwhile. Meanwhile Heathfield will be enjoying their 2nd place in the league table while being well aware that they have not yet faced the other top teams.
Conditions were good for November with good grass cover and the pitch soft but tacky. There was no wind and a little dampness from overnight dew meant that the ball needed touchline drying when possible.
Heathfield enjoy a good contest so after three minutes they were reduced to 14 players for the rest of the match when Archie Adam was red carded for a dangerous tackle. Although in front of the posts the resulting kick was missed.
Heathfield almost immediately replied as after some scruffy play Aiden Plumley gathered the ball from a breakdown near the visitors’ 10m line and then powered through a couple of tackles for a fine solo try. Plumley’s strong running has been an increasing feature this season so this was well deserved. Toby Simpson converted this and all bar two of the other tries.
A few minutes later more home pressure ended with George Hayter receiving the ball in a little space 20 metres out and he charged down the last few yards for his first try of the season. Then almost immediately Harry Slinnhawkins exploited turnover ball and followed up his own long kick to claim a try on the left hand side. (19-0)
The game now settled down a little as Heathfield were handicapping themselves with some unnecessary penalties, mainly for high tackles, which enabled Deal to work into the home half. Eventually a slightly misdirected kick was collected by Simpson in his own in-goal area who then ran back with an attack that ended near the right hand corner. Heathfield eventually won the resulting scrummage and the ball was moved left where Plumley somehow arrived to collect Heathfield’s bonus point try.
The half ended with a period of Deal pressure into the top corner but an attacking lineout was just defended and the half ended at 26-0.
The home scrummage had been under some pressure and this was not helped as Reece Webb had to retire hurt just before half time. However Deal never gained a major advantage in this phase and later on substitutions on both sides meant that there was no clear advantage either way. However the Deal lineout was impressive with Ross Widdett continually securing their ball even though Heathfield knew it was going to him.
Deal had the benefit of the slight slope in the second half but thoughts of an unlikely recovery were soon snuffed out as Tom Reilly cross-kicked precisely for Slinnhawkins to collect and work his way through last tackles for his second try on the day.
Heathfield coach Sam Goatcher was now using his bench with Ollie Tooke and Jay Massey-Taylor (making a welcome return from injury) joining the contest. Simpson was looking dangerous whenever chances appeared while Jo Lewis was challenging Plumley for the number of yards gained ball in hand – both are having fine seasons.
Given the game situation Deal can take plenty of credit for their continued resistance but four tries in the last quarter tells the story. First Tom Cornwall was on the end of multiple phases, followed almost immediately by a lineout turnover moved into midfield for Massey-Taylor to make the key break and Cornwall was again on hand to finish.
Entering the last ten minutes a free kick from a scrum was tapped and moved left for Simpson to finish clinically on that side. Then in the last minutes an attacking lineout in the top corner was worked through a couple of phases before Tom Tingley deservedly claimed the try.
One last attack into the left hand corner was thwarted with a pass called forward and the final whistle went.
Deal will have returned home beaten but unbowed and will naturally look to put the record straight in February. They took particular pride in their young replacement Lucas Halford-Dunn making his first team debut where he did well.
On a day marked by the team performance in winning a game one man short for most of the time, skipper Gus Taylor was especially noted, (including by the referee) while Harry Westgate also caught the eye with repeated, and often accurate, box kicks down the line.
Otherwise Heathfield were delighted to have had a full Rangers team this week even if they just came second to Hellingly on the day with two tries apiece with just a conversion making the difference.
The clubhouse was looking lively when I left with an Australian-themed evening starting – perhaps ironic given the outcome at Twickenham.
Next Saturday Heathfield visit Bromley who are having an impressive season including a win over leaders Canterbury II and are just one point behind Heathfield in the league table. As I commented before our recent visit to Bromley’s near neighbours Park House, Barnet Wood Road is not often a happy hunting ground for Heathfield.