Heathfield 24 Horsham 39
Horsham finally secured a bonus point win in an entertaining but error-strewn nine try game in which Heathfield recovered from a poor start to mount a serious, albeit eventually unsuccessful, challenge in the second half.
The opening quarter was a sorry succession of errors by both sides, mainly by Heathfield and the visitors duly took advantage. While conditions appeared good, earlier rain resulted in a greasy ball and plentiful handling errors. A kicking exchange ended with the ball going to the visiting right wing about forty yards out and he proceeded to run through some ineffectual tackling to open the scoring after just three minutes (0-7).
While Heathfield soon replied with a penalty by Sean Crozier, Horsham then extended their lead with another try as a kick into the left hand corner bounced unkindly for the defenders and a Horsham player following up pounced (3-12). A few minutes later a penalty into the top corner under the balcony gave Horsham a good attacking position and from the resulting lineout the ball was moved into midfield where their tight head prop ran a muscular line to crash over (3-19).
From this low point Heathfield shrugged off their recent woes and were seriously competitive thereafter. Some pressure was applied into the bottom corner which resulted in a penalty and Harry Vidler tapped quickly, diving over taking several defenders with him, converted by Crozier (10-19).
Horsham soon collected their bonus point try as another crosskick was retrieved for a try in the right hand corner (10-24). This was almost immediately answered as Crozier chipped over the defence and Henry Ross was on hand to retrieve the ball before off-loading to Crozier to slide over under the posts (17-24).
In a planned substitution Fraser Goatcher now replaced Shrek Watkins. This had to be reversed almost immediately for a Goatcher blood injury but he later came back and did some good work in scrummage and in carrying. A Horsham three quarter was now binned for a swinging arm in a tackle but Heathfield were unable to exploit the man advantage and the half finished without further score.
Munch May was having a typically busy day and successfully disrupted the base of the Horsham scrum on several occasions. Will Tyler is becoming more assured week by week and had several useful runs. Skipper Ollie Smith was noticeably effective in defence winning several turnovers and often carried well. However the back division never really executed well on the day in spite of having a decent amount of possession to work with. This is probably partly explained by the usual issues of frequently changing personnel from week to week and the lack of practice time together.
At half time Haidar Maliki and Toby Warren replaced Harry Vidler and May. The breakdown was becoming feisty at this stage and Tyler was now binned for an inaccurate tackle. The home coaches felt that Maliki’s abrasive tackling was upsetting the referee so he was temporarily withdrawn so as to avoid another card, but he returned soon afterwards and contributed well. Horsham duly took advantage of the extra man as the lineout from the Tyler penalty was driven on for another converted try (17-31).
However the game now increasingly revolved around the Heathfield pack which was using the pick and go to great effect. Second rows Ed Koops and Dylan Eames gained plenty of hard yards and most of the game was in the visitors’ half. With 25 minutes remaining Horsham were adjudged to have illegally stopped a Heathfield drive on their try line and a penalty try duly resulted (24-31). The momentum was clearly with the home side with the result very much in the balance. So it was no surprise when Horsham took the available points from a penalty on a rare visit to the home half (24-34).
With ten minutes remaining a Horsham flanker was binned for a punch and then received a red card when he was alleged to have commented on the decision. However Heathfield were again unable to exploit the extra man. On at least three occasions good attacking positions in the visitors’ 22 were spoilt by repeated poor execution at the lineout. At this stage a try would have given Heathfield two bonus points but it was not to be. In the last moments Horsham showed their resilience by surging back and good scrummage ball was cleverly exploited by their fly half for a fine solo try into the bottom corner.
In all there were 30 penalties during the game and this will be giving all involved food for thought.
Given the relative league positions the final result was unsurprising but after last week’s very unsatisfactory performance by the home side there were plenty of positives for both team and coaches. Horsham were deserved winners, especially in view of their multiple team changes this week, and they will be near the top of the table come next April.
Next week Heathfield entertain Pulborough (2.30pm 11 November) and will be looking to turn today’s improved albeit flawed performance into league points.