Heathfield Rangers 34 Steyning 15
Heathfield Rangers progressed to the semi-finals of the Sussex Plate with a seven tries to three win over Steyning in an entertaining and good spirited game in front of a decent crowd at Cross In Hand.
Steyning were struggling for numbers and had just 12 players so Heathfield loaned them Tommy Buck and Gus Wright both of whom were noted throughout the full 80 minutes with strong contributions. At various times Kevin Parker and Mike Brown also helped the visitors out as injuries took their toll.
The Rangers fielded a mixture of experience and youth including several of this year’s Colts alongside assorted mature individuals including extreme veteran Brown.
Heathfield had first use of the slight slope and variable breeze on a dry but claggy surface and they had some early pressure with George Walter catching the eye early on with some effective committed tackling. Heathfield handicapped themselves with some botched lineouts in good attacking positions but after ten minutes a scrum on the right hand side was exploited by scrum half Harry Westgate and then Sam Williams before Colt Cole Mackenzie finished well.
Williams and Mackenzie again combined well down the right flank and it took a fine last ditch tackle by ‘turncoat’ Wright to deny them a try in the bottom corner. After 20 minutes a visitors’ scrum near their own 22 initially secured the ball but possession was turned over at the first breakdown and good hands moved the ball wide left for another Colt Henry Millington to touch down.
Steyning were certainly not downhearted and their big men now made their first serious visit to the home 22 but this was contained. Then a Steyning scrum was turned over and Williams was the beneficiary of simple handling with his first try on the day.
With five minutes left in the half Steyning kicked out of defence but the ball went straight to Williams on the 10m line and he gratefully accepted the opportunity to run the ball back into the left hand corner and unselfishly offloaded to Millington for his second try and Heathfield’s fourth.
The half ended with some Steyning pressure on the home try line but James Thompson suffered a painful leg injury and the referee sensibly blew for half time.
The Rangers sometimes had an edge in the scrummage in spite of the visitors’ apparent size but Steyning definitely had the better of the lineout. Neither side had control of the breakdown and in an often messy midfield Craig Martin did some plucky carries in heavy traffic while Monty Simmonds was effective with typically committed defensive work as well as in the lineout.
When the second half started Steyning immediately resumed where they had left off and had a period on the home try line which was just repelled. However they generally had the best of the third quarter and collected two tries from short range, one from a clinical lineout catch and drive, although neither was converted (22-10).
This stirred Heathfield into action as the prospect of a clear win was being threatened. Some good all team work led to an attacking position in the top corner and the ball was moved blind from a breakdown for Williams to make a line break and then put Millington in for his third on the day (27-10).
Steyning were still contesting well and duly collected their third try from a tap penalty from short range.
However the Rangers finished stronger with Williams prominent. First he beat numerous players with a long run from near the half way and looked to have scored under the posts. However he had finished with a roll which the referee considered did not include any downward pressure on the ball.
There was then just time for Dan Canneaux to collect a yellow card. The penalty count against Heathfield had been growing so his actions in a tackle gave the referee due cause to reach for a card.
The game ended with Williams second try on the day when Mackenzie could have scored for himself but unselfishly allowed one of the standout players on the day to collect the points. Williams had just one game for Heathfield 1st team this year but he is clearly capable of many more.
Steyning often showed their potential if they had fielded a full team with their considerable strength up front and effective half backs. However on the day the Rangers had too much pace out wide, especially with their back three showing the benefit of a thriving Junior section and useful Colts players.
Rangers coach Bryn Jones was delighted with his team’s performance. As well as those already mentioned he picked out skipper Sam Goatcher for his mature control of the game from fly half.
This quarter final win means that the Rangers will face one of Hove 3, Horsham 3 or Crawley 2 in the semi-finals next Saturday 1st April.