Heathfield 87 Crawley 7
Heathfield started their London South East 3 League campaign with a thumping thirteen tries to one victory over Crawley. The conditions were perfect on a warm sunny day with almost no wind and a good grass covering over a solid surface. A decent crowd included many members of Heathfield’s Ladies side.
Heathfield have retained most of their players from the last campaign which was interrupted by Covid some eighteen months ago. By contrast Crawley are much changed from the team which won Sussex 1 and thus earned promotion to this level. They were also handicapped by multiple injuries so may well have feared that this could be a difficult day.
Heathfield opened the scoring in the second minute as hooker Sam Brown took a sweet inside pass following a lineout near the visitors 22 and ran a good line to power over near the left corner. Fly half Sean Crozier duly converted and impressively went on to convert 11 of the 13 tries with some very secure striking of the ball from all angles.
A schoolboy error ruined what should have been the next try but this was soon irrelevant as a textbook lineout catch and drive from at least 20 yards out ended with Tom Cornwall claiming the points. Then more clean lineout ball was worked wide for Bryn Jones to make good yards before releasing debutant Liam Dunkley to make the score.
The bonus point try arrived on 18 minutes when good quick ball was moved right and Sam Williams correctly identified the try line.
Crawley were struggling to get into the game as the larger Heathfield ball carriers such as Sam Crichton and Dylan Eames repeatedly gained good yards before finding supporting runners. However the visitors’ backs were starting to make an impact with what little ball they were receiving. Just past the half hour a remarkably fine lineout catch at the tail gave them good ball and some strong running in the centre produced a consolation try under the home posts.
However the half ended with another home attack into the top corner. Secure lineout ball was worked on the shortside by props Fraser Goatcher and Reece Webb for Cornwall to plunge over under the boisterous and appreciative balcony. Cornwall continues to impress with his dynamism all round the park.
A halftime score of 31-7 was looking ominous for the visitors as they were under pressure in all phases. The home pack had an edge at the set piece and their backs were producing some direct running with Crozier and veteran Bryn Jones combining well to release the outside runners.
Sam Brown and his brother Jack were replaced at half time by Dan Bird and Archie Adams. Both Browns had done well and indeed returned to the fray later in the game.
The second half was something of a procession as Heathfield ran in eight more tries. First Dunkley ran a special line near a scrum to cross over almost untouched. Then Webb charged over at the end of one of the few occasions when Heathfield needed to string some phases together. He was immediately followed by fellow front-rower Bird with a strong finish as Heathfield ran back the restart.
Approaching the last quarter Dunkley now collected a weak kick out of defence and stepped his way through the defence for his third. Crichton claimed the next in a well-earned reward for his many carries on the day.
An attacking scrum near the bottom corner allowed Munch May to attack the blindside and release Williams for his second try – should have been three but we’re not talking about that.
A minor outbreak of handbags resulted in a yellow card for one of the visiting pack. However there was still time for Dunkley to compound their misery by collecting his fourth and fifth tries in the game as his agility and strong lines of running proved too much for tired defensive legs. Crozier collected 22 points on the day through his excellent kicking and it is unusual for someone scoring that much not to be the highest scorer but today he had to give best to five-try Dunkley.
The home coaches were delighted with the performance which built on the two useful wins in pre-season games against purportedly higher-ranked sides.
It would be wrong to draw too many conclusions from one game but it can be said with some confidence that Heathfield are in good heart and have a competitive team for this league. Harder games lie ahead which will test the depth of the squad starting next week when Heathfield visit local rivals Cranbrook (25th Sep 3.00)