Happy Hill but Heath still waiting

Burgess Hill were indebted to outside centre Will Pearson as he scored 21 points in their 26-17 home win against Old Beccehamians on Saturday.
Haywards Heath v Dover. Pic Steve RobardsHaywards Heath v Dover. Pic Steve Robards
Haywards Heath v Dover. Pic Steve Robards

Hill have stepped up to London SE3 for the first time this season and director of rugby Ross Hallifax has admitted the quality of rugby is two or three times better than the Sussex League.

But they targeted this match as winnable and thanks to Pearson they managed to clinch their second success in five starts.

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Hill welcomed back South African second row Justin Nel after a five-year absence and called up last year’s colts captain Aaron Jones to the back row.

Haywards Heath v Dover. Pic Steve RobardsHaywards Heath v Dover. Pic Steve Robards
Haywards Heath v Dover. Pic Steve Robards

But it was not the best of starts as from the kick off scrum half Ant Baldwin was knocked unconscious trying to retrieve the ball.

Hill were soon in charge, however, and 10 minutes in fly half Ben Herbe dummied and took the gap to sprint between the sticks.

Pearson duly added the extras and then kicked a penalty to make it 10-0.

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Whenever the visitors did gain some possession, they were met by crunching tackles from second row Cris Leahy and Nel, and wingers Paul Tokasaya and Paul Tagiara.

One such effort led to a turnover on halfway and that allowed Herbe and full back Daly to combine to send Pearson on a run to touch down under the posts.

Pearson again converted and then followed up with another penalty to make it 20-0 at half time.

Unfortunately for the Sussex All Blacks, the break came at the wrong time and on the resumption it was Old Beccs who took charge.

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Five minutes in they scored a converted try and then a penalty reduced the deficit to 10 points.

With Tagiara also going to the bin, it was looking an uphill struggle for Hill.

But they picked themselves up and a Pearson penalty offered some breathing space before a converted try again put Hill under pressure.

This time, however, they woke up fully and in the last 10 minutes applied some good pressure of their own that resulted in another successful Pearson penalty kick.

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Hill now have a week off from league action before travelling to Ashford on October 26.

Meanwhile, Heath were 17-10 up at half time against visitors Dover before finally slipping to a 17-27 defeat.

Even so, director of rugby Steve Heaton was heartened, saying: “We were very positive in attack in the first half and equally so in defence in the second half. The boys are playing with their heads up as they look for that elusive first win.”

Al Harle made his first start of the season and Alex Meredith was also back to recall the club’s glory years. Both made effective contributions.

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In the first half a small but pacy back row of 18-year-old Will Hoare, Josh Salisbury and Sam Drage, out of position at No 8, were quick to the breakdown and ensured a plentiful supply of quick ball for the back line.

Although it was Dover who struck first when skipper Ben Sedgwick ran in unopposed from 40 metres just five minutes in, Heath replied swiftly as Harle burst through for a try that young Sam Fieldwick converted for a 7-5 lead.

The loss of hooker Huw Jenkins on the half hour was a real blow and he will be out some time even though a suspected broken leg turned out to be ligament problems.

After that Heath’s scrummaging was not so effective and it proved particularly costly in the second half.

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Logan Chandler went over to give Dover a 10-7 lead but Heath were good value for their half-time lead courtesy of Fieldwick converting a Roscoe Atkins try and Owain Jenkins providing a smartly taken drop goal.

It was a different story after the break and an injury to Meredith hardly helped as Dover ran in three tries, one of which was converted.

Heath also have a week off before returning to league action at Chichester on the 26th. -

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