Heath storm to away win

Trinity 7 Haywards Heath 21

Horizontal rain and gale force gusts of wind were awaiting Heath and their intrepid bunch of supporters as they arrived in  Croydon for an away fixture against third placed Trinity RFC, a game they really needed to take something from to put their season back on track.

Keeping hold of the ball was to prove a challenge for both sides during the afternoon and it was Heath who adapted to conditions and playing without the ball the better as the match progressed. This was not a game for the faint hearted and after Heath had conceded some early penalties they managed to gain territory after Trinity themselves were guilty of offending. A kick into the howling wind moved them down the pitch and whilst Trinity tried to clear their lines the Heath pack were  not allowing the opposition ball carriers any time and effected a turn over in the home 22. Number 8 Toby Vander emerged with the ball and made ground through a number of tacklers to within a metre of the line under the posts where second row Harry Clark was on hand to dive over for the score. Tom Wharton converted for a 0-7 score line after only 10 minutes of the game.

Trinity proceeded to dominate possession and territory as well as the scrums at which Heath struggled all afternoon with a makeshift front row. Heath hung on despite numerous visits by Trinity to the 22 and some ferocious defence by the men in red and black really set the tone for the day. Despite all their possession and with the wind in their favour Trinity were unable to find a way through and every time they tried to create an offensive platform the Heath defenders hunted them down and forced a mistake or turned the ball over. The home side did attempt to kick a penalty but conditions saw that attempt skid along the ground.

With just over 5 minutes until the half time whistle Trinity again tried to launch an attack in the mid-field only to be caught under pressure by Heath winger Josh Pratt who  hacked through, won the foot race to kick the ball into goal where fellow winger Chris Benstead-Schlup dived over to score a try against the run of play. Wharton gratefully added the extras for 0-14. Heath hung on until half time when they would be turning round to try and take advantage of the wind.

While the wind allowed them to clear their lines and turn Trinity round Heath still needed to dig deep to hold onto their lead. The effort and dogged resolve to pin their opponents back and not let them in for a score was outstanding from the entire Heath squad and  they even had a penalty opportunity of their own to extend the lead which just slid past the uprights.

After multiple penalties and a warning from the referee Heath continued to defend manfully on their own goal line until pressure eventually told and the Trinity fullback playing a penalty advantage went over in the corner for 7-14 and Heath lost a man to the bin.

With minutes remaining and as Trinity looked for the equalising score they got caught in possession by the marauding Heath centres meaning the loose ball again got fly hacked down the pitch where it was fielded by the Trinity full back. The pace of Heath's chase was impressive given the game was in the 76th minute and when the Trinity 15 was snared by centre Alex Harrison he desperately tried to get a pass away to his winger only for it to be intercepted by Heath hooker Flinn Herbert to dive over and secure the win.

Restored to a full compliment Heath went looking for the fourth try and a bonus point but just ran out of time. This was a real battling performance from Heath and was some consolation for the disappointment of the previous week's loss at home. As the game went on in truly terrible conditions the Heath side's body language was of a side that wanted it more than their opponents and they can use this victory to kick start their campaign.

Back at Whitemans Green the conditions were not much better for the Rams as they faced Pulborough 2s. In a tight and scrappy encounter the Rams emerged victorious with a hard fought 22-10 win.

Next weekend sees the 1st team involved in a Sussex derby against Eastbourne with a 2.30pm kick off and the Rams away to Worthing 3s.

1st Team Match Squad:  Marcus Pemberton; Flinn Herbert; Elliot Higgin; George Targett; Harry Clark; Dan Jarman; Josh Salisbury; Toby Vander; Olly Miller; Sam Denslow;  Josh Pratt; Jack Lucas; Alex Harrison; Christian Benstead-Schlup; Tom Wharton; Karl Wicking; Connor Mullins; Ellis Dubois