Old Midwives give best to young Heathfield

After the drama of last week Heathfield eventually cruised into the quarter finals of the RFU Peppa John South Shield with a thumping nine tries to one win over Trinity from Surrey.
Trinity had ended their league season just above the relegation zone in the Surrey/Sussex Counties 1 league and so were at roughly the same level as Heathfield. However they were handicapped today as they arrived with just 15 players while the home side had five on the bench.
Conditions were excellent with a reasonably well-grassed pitch which was just taking a stud and a chill breeze across the pitch not having a significant influence on the play but requiring spectators to be well insulated.
Trinity started brightly as after a couple of minutes their standout player (and captain) Farooq Agbalaya achieved a turnover at a breakdown and then broke through a couple of tackles down the left touch line allowing him to stroll over for a fine solo try, duly converted.
That was the end of the good news for the visitors. Heathfield successfully followed up the restart and built some pressure into the visitors’ half. Good scrum ball was worked into midfield and Liam Dunkley was just contained but a penalty at the resulting breakdown allowed Toby Simpson to knock over an easy three points.
Trinity’s problems were now highlighted as one of their backs had to retire hurt without any available replacement. He did bravely return to action a while later but his side were clearly handicapped by the lack of player resources.
There was some sloppy play at this point by both sides with multiple missed touches from both penalties and open play which are only partly explained by the crosswind.
Heathfield were gradually starting to take control assisted by an increasing penalty count against Trinity. Simpson and Ollie Tooke were noted with some good work on the left hand side which led to a period of pressure on the visitors’ try line. Eventually good ruck ball was moved left for Tom Reilly to work his way over to the left of the posts just before the half hour. (10-7)
Trinity then had a long range penalty chance but it was short and the half ended with more Heathfield pressure. Retained possession through a couple of phases was finally ended when Simpson touched down in the top corner under the clubhouse balcony although he may afterwards have been fined for showboating with his exuberant cartwheel finish.
The half time score of 15-7 may have suggested a close contest. In reality Trinity had been unable to exploit the slight slope advantage they had enjoyed in the first half. Heathfield had done the hard work and duly reaped the rewards. The set piece was even with Heathfield being particularly pleased by the efforts of their front row against the mature visiting unit.
It was good to see Gus Taylor return to the pitch at half time following a long absence through illness. He assures me that what looked like a knock-on for his first touch actually came off his leg – of course.
Tries came steadily throughout the second half. Any hope of a visitors’ resurgence were soon quashed as Simpson ran back a Trinity kick out of defence and he linked nicely with Dunkley before the latter claimed a deserved try. Soon another run by Simpson was just denied by a desperate tap tackle.
Dunkley then claimed his second on the day following a handy interchange with Tom Tingley. By now Heathfield were starting to utilise their bench thus giving game time to upcoming players.
Approaching the last quarter a Heathfield attack into the left hand corner was ended by the timely arrival at pace of replacement Archie Adams for his first try of the year.
The game was breaking open with the result obvious. Trinity were by no means daunted and they did manage one good attack into the left hand corner. Harry Westgate then managed a cool pickpocket of the Trinity player who may have thought he was about to score – although play was anyway called back for a home penalty.
The last few minutes saw three more tries. Dylan Eames benefitted from some useful wotk by Joe Lewis who then also contributed to a score by Tingley. The fitness and impact of both Heathfield second rows at this stage of the game was impressive.
The game was ended by a second try for Adams after another eye-catching run by Simpson who rightly exploited tiring visitors’ legs.
Respect has to be given to the Trinity tight head, Dom Plumb, who played the full 80 while approaching 60 years. Even Brian Burdett would probably acknowledge that – but then they probably know each other from the last century.
Trinity had previously played Heathfield when they were called Old Midwhitgiftians (Old Midwives) roughly 20 years ago. It is a sign of the issues they are dealing with that one of their players today had also played against Heathfield all those years ago when some of the Heathfield squad had not even been born.
Trinity skipper Agbalaya picked out his second row Alex Scott for his efforts on a difficult day for his team. Meanwhile the Heathfield coaches were delighted with the team performance with particular mention for Reece Webb following his mountainous exploits.
Heathfield next face Ashford away in the quarter-finals. While Heathfield put a lot of points on them in the recent league match at home, Ashford just won the equivalent home fixture by four points so this will probably be a close contest (27 Apr 3.00).