Anchorians just edged a close contest by one conversion on a day when they played their preferred game and Heathfield were unable to respond adequately.
In some ways this was history repeating itself as in the last season when these two teams met in 2015/16 the then high-flying Heathfield team who had comfortably won the home fixture were held to an 18-18 draw.
Conditions were excellent on a dry, occasionally sunny day with no significant wind and a well-grassed pitch.
Gillingham Anchorians (GA) played down the slope initially and started brightly into the bottom corner but a penalty allowed Heathfield to work back upfield. Soon another penalty gave the visitors a good attacking position in the left hand corner and a clinical lineout catch and drive allowed Chris Baker-Butler to open the scoring with a try.
The home side soon replied with a penalty (3-5). Neither side was dominating and there were chances at both ends as the game became something of a dogfight which probably suited GAs more. The Heathfield backs rarely had any constructive moves as a reflection of the pressure from the home side.
After 25 minutes Heathfield collected another three points from a Toby Simpson penalty which fairly reflected the penalty count of 7-3 against the home side at this point. However home pressure thereafter caused problems for the visitors and the penalty count was almost even by half time. This happened because the game was becoming a little niggly and the referee had to assert control.
Simpson looked to have a chance when following a kick ahead but he was adjudged to have tackled a defender just before he retrieved the ball. Then towards the end of the half another attacking lineout in the left hand corner was looking promising but a penalty ended that opportunity.
At half time Heathfield will have felt optimistic of securing a result with the slope to come in their favour. Thus far the scrum had been even while the home lineout was very secure all day while Heathfield’s was occasionally fallible.
GAs immediately showed that they were very much in the contest as a poor Heathfield clearance was run back for a good finish on the right hand side to tie the score at 8-8.
Almost immediately Chris Baker-Butler was binned for a high tackle. Without disputing the validity of this decision many felt that there were generally too many other high tackles which went unpunished – but a ref can only give what he sees.
Numbers were soon evened up as a home centre was binned for some handbag nonsense, reflecting the ongoing niggly nature of the game.
Soon Harry Slinnhawkins had a decent run down the left wing but his final pass was inaccurate and Zac Coxen was unable to cling on long enough to touch down.
Heathfield now had a period of pressure on the home try line, turning over one home scrum but then losing one of their own after which hooker Baker-Butler had to retire with a neck issue. The home scrum thereafter had a distinct edge.
At one point on their own try line GAs were awarded a penalty but one of their players was then binned for reasons unclear to me – but his side still had a penalty and were able to clear their lines. Baffled old man here.
The game continued to be mainly in midfield with GA’s pack generally being more effective and Heathfield’s backs struggling to put any coherent moves together leading to individuals trying to do too much individually.
With ten minutes remaining the home inside centre Oliver Newton scored the decisive try with a fine run from broken play, working his way through some questionable tackles.
Simpson was now binned for another high tackle but which may have also reflected his frustration at how the game had developed.
With five minutes remaining good hands from a penalty ended with Liam Dunkley working his way over on the right hand side but the conversion to tie the score was just wide.
In spite of some frantic efforts the game soon ended leaving Heathfield with just a losing bonus point, fourth place in the league table and two of the probably strongest sides to be faced in the next three games.
On a difficult day few emerged with credit but several young players will have learned from today. However several commented on how well skipper Jo Lewis had communicated with the referee in a niggly contest, keeping a tricky situation under control.
One bright spot on the day was the win by Heathfield Rangers with a thumping 48-5 win over Hastings 2. They now move on to next Saturday’s Sussex Vase semi-final against Barns Green – 2.00pm 15 Nov at Cross In Hand - not to be missed.
Meanwhile the 1st team have a week to lick their wounds and prepare to face the increasingly likely league winners in unbeaten Old Elthamians who are averaging 60 points a game (22 Nov 2.00)