Heathfield snatched the result and local bragging rights in the last play of an entertaining, even heart-stopping game that left Crowborough with just two bonus points when they had been moments away from a fine win.
Conditions were decent on a mostly sunny day, no significant breeze and a firm pitch with a fair grass covering. The well-refreshed attendees at the VP lunch were joined by a good crowd of supporters from both clubs and this produced an excellent noisy atmosphere.
Heathfield soon led 12-0 as they ruthlessly exploited a couple of Crowborough lineouts to keep the visitors on the back foot. First Jay Massey-Taylor dived into the left hand corner. Soon afterwards a home lineout went wrong but Jayden Rainbow made an important turnover at the breakdown. Quick ball reached Massey-Taylor who made a neat break and nearly scored again himself but offloaded to Sam Walley for the try. Toby Simpson converted.
Crowborough have been playing well recently so have built resilience and confidence: from this unpromising start they dominated the rest of the first half scoring three unanswered tries through some excellent rugby, chiefly through their pacey back division.
The visitors were having slightly more possession and were certainly making better use of it. They were also helped by a steady leakage of penalties by the home side. Entering the second quarter good lineout ball was moved into midfield and a centre was just held up. Soon afterwards a cunning chip ahead into the home dead ball area was tidied up by Simpson.
However Crowborough then scored two good tries in quick succession. Good hands produced one on the left hand side and this was followed almost immediately as another penalty against Heathfield was driven over from short range. Both were converted to give the visitors the lead 12-14.
In the last minutes of the half there was a potential pendulum moment. Heathfield made their first visit to the visitors’ half for quite a while. A tap penalty on the 5m line in the bottom corner looked promising but a simple handling error ruined the chance. Crowborough counter-attacked well and although just denied initially eventually scrum half Ed Croft strolled over for their third try and a half time score of 12-21.
Heathfield had the benefit of the slight slope in the first half but this was not a significant factor on the day. The set piece was a mixed picture. After the initial errors by the Crowborough lineout it was generally secure thereafter. The home scrummage had a couple of mishaps in the first half but changes in personnel at half time changed that picture decisively. Ollie Smith, Jasper Folkes and Chris Baker-Butler all came on to make big contributions with Smith being the most influential.
The second half started with more woe for Heathfield. Massey-Taylor was binned for a high tackle although this was more of a team yellow given the penalty count thus far rather than this particular incident. The resulting three points nudged Crowborough further ahead and things then went even further south as the restart was effectively run back with flanker Jo Chapman making a key contribution putting his full back (I think) in for an easy canter to the posts and their bonus point try.
At 12-31 few would have given Heathfield much chance of a result. However this team has developed the depth of confidence over the season that comes from winning games, often from difficult positions.
The key difference now was that Heathfield were dominating the scrum. This was providing the platform and momentum that enabled everything else. With about 55 minutes on the clock good scrum ball was carried through several phases before Tom Tingley charged over from some way out.
The game now felt right in the balance and several commented that the next score could well be decisive. In the event another strong home scrum near half way was again carried on through several phases before Walley doubled his tally on the day and the try bonus point. The home scrum was now winning penalties and gaining yards every time to keep the pressure on.
Just when Heathfield might have felt that they were on course to snatch the result Crowborough efficiently exploited a lineout for a try on the right hand side, but perhaps crucially, the conversion went wide.
With about ten minutes left and a ten point deficit it still looked a big mountain for Heathfield to climb. However a handy run by Simpson from broken play into the left hand corner produced a yellow card for Chapman, thus spoiling his otherwise excellent day’s work.
With their scrum already under pressure the loss of another forward will not have helped and Heathfield duly surged over for Walley to collect his third on the day and the Simpson conversion reduced the gap to three points with about five left on the clock.
All of the play was now in the visitors’ half and mostly in their 22. Successive dominant Heathfield scrums produced another Crowborough yellow card. There was some confusion at this point and Crowborough were afterwards unhappy at the referee’s decision not to allow scrums to become uncontested.
Repeated penalties gave Heathfield several opportunities to take the three points needed to tie the game. Skipper Jo Lewis just wanted to win the game and was not going to take that option.
Heathfield were now completely controlling the game and at one point Ben Irwin, now at scrum half, tried three different options in serious traffic before shipping the ball out. In the last play of the game the ball was moved wide left and Dylan Parsons still had considerable work to do before touching down in the left hand corner under serious pressure.
The conversion was just wide but the game was over.
Crowborough will feel miffed at the outcome and they played some outstanding rugby in the first half. However to win at rugby you have to have the right balance between piano players and piano shifters, Today Heathfield crucially had the decisive edge in the latter department and that swung the game – just.
Head Coach Sam Goatcher was struggling to pick out individuals today in a fine team performance to come back from 12-31 down – this probably also means that I have forgotten who he wanted to mention. But all the front row had fine games with strong mentions also for Walley, Dylan Eames and Harry Westgate.
It looks likely that Heathfield will finish either second or third in the league – their highest ever position. At the time of writing the league table on the RFU website has been incorrectly updated – we should be one point behind Deal & Betteshanger. The league season ends next week when Heathfield visit Charlton Park who are having a difficult season. (25 Apr 3.00)