1st XV
Matches
Sat 09 Feb 2019  ·  London 2 South East
Horsham
68
17
Heathfield & Waldron RFC
1st XV
Tries: T Tingley, E Napier (2)Conversions: L Cuming
Horsham too big and strong for game Heathfield

Horsham too big and strong for game Heathfield

Philip Bell10 Feb 2019 - 09:33
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Two tries for Napier on debut

Horsham 68 Heathfield 17
Promotion-challengers Horsham duly recorded a nine try to three defeat of league strugglers Heathfield. Horsham will appreciate the points in their close contest for the play-off position in SE2 and on this showing they looked a class above their visitors. Conditions were excellent on Horsham’s fine all weather surface – the strong breeze was mainly across the pitch but slightly with the home side in the first half.
However after the first ten minutes such an outcome looked unlikely and the home coaches were sounding distinctly unhappy with their team. After an initial Horsham attack that was only just contained, Heathfield had much the better of the next period. This was chiefly based on a solid set piece with the scrummage doing especially well as Fraser Goatcher’s return to action provides the stability upfront that has been missing for much of the season. The home lineout was also being disrupted by Henry Ross so the visitors were starting to get some decent possession and fly half Toby Harrison made the first of a number of major incisions into the home midfield.
Play was all over the pitch as Horsham came more into the contest. The ball was just held up over the visitors’ line and soon afterwards an attacking scrum in front of the visitors’ posts provided another clear scoring opportunity but a poor pass gave the home fly half little chance.
Eventually Horsham started to play to their strengths which mainly involve big men running in wide channels with good support and offloading. They have sizeable people all across the team sheet and effectively overpowered the game visitors in open play. Their first try came just before the end of the first quarter with some good handling from deep.
Sadly Ross had to leave the field with a shoulder injury and he will have been missed not only in the lineout but also in open play where he is often a big contributor. James Woodroofe replaced him and generally put in a good shift.
Horsham collected three more tries in the first half, all converted, to have their bonus point secured. The last came as Heathfield continued to press forward from good set piece possession but succumbed to an interception by Horsham centre Joe Wilde who was apparently collecting his third such score in four games. The home number 8 had a big day ball in hand often breaking tackles and making good yards.
Horsham are obviously benefitting from the use of such a fine surface on which to train and play. It also helps them in that they can trust the bounce of the ball while visiting players are still instinctively holding back in that circumstance.
One minor whinge from me was that a game on a neighbouring pitch seemed to be attracting plenty of whistle and I felt that on several occasions players on one pitch were reacting to a whistle from the other one. In such circumstances it would be preferable for one of the refs to use a whistle with a different note so that players are not distracted.
At half time Julian Porter temporarily replaced Goatcher and it is to the credit of this 47 year old that Heathfield continued to have at least parity and occasionally an edge in that phase. The other front row members, Richard Poole and Tom Watkins were afterwards picked out by the coaches for their performance. At fly half Harrison had a creative day and also put in a good defensive shift against some big people. Lucas Cuming was making some heroic tackles trying to stem the home tide while skipper Gus Taylor again led by example in a committed performance.
However it has to be acknowledged that Horsham collected five more tries in the second half chiefly through strong direct running, good support and smart offloads.
One try was secured by their substantial fly half who drove through a typically committed tackle by Leon Collen thus illustrating the key difference between the sides. Collen then had to retire for a while which allowed James Robinson to make his first appearance for Heathfield.
One bright point for the visitors came as they continued to try to attack and a Harrison chip was exploited by Tom Tingley who then beat several defenders in working his way under the posts. Tingley is in a rich vein of scoring at present.
If the outcome of a game was based on the last ten minutes then Heathfield would have won as they scored two tries to one by Horsham. First left wing Ed Napier making his first appearance at this level scooped up loose ball from a breakdown near half way and somehow evaded defenders to collect a fine individual try. Heathfield should have had another when Tingley made a great run out of his own half and was only stopped by a desperate last ditch tackle – at the consequent breakdown Heathfield felt aggrieved that a defender was allowed to illegally snaffle the ball and then the home side exploited tiring defensive legs to score at the other end.
Nonetheless Heathfield had the last word on the scoreboard with another try from broken play by Napier.
In the dying seconds they were surging forward with just the sniff of a bonus point try – and some claimed to have seen a dummy or sidestep by Goatcher at this point but they were obviously deluded and the game ended soon afterwards.
Next week Heathfield entertain Thanet Wanderers (16 Feb 2.30) who are the side next above Heathfield in the league table and who appeared to have had a narrow loss today to Charlton Park, one of the stronger teams in this league.

Match details

Match date

Sat 09 Feb 2019

Kickoff

14:30

Competition

London 2 South East

League position

2
Horsham
11
Heathfield & Waldron
Team overview
Further reading

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