A big crowd of over 200 had gathered, many having attended the pre-match lunch at the clubhouse which was a farewell celebration for one of Heath's true Club men - Mike Travis - who with his wife Joan is retiring to Norfolk. Mike has been involved with Heath Rugby for over 37 years initially as a player and subsequently as a coach of some very good Colts sides – working with a number of players who have gone on to achieve international honours. It was fitting that at the lunch Mike presented Club ties to the Under 13 squad in a tradition to mark the transition from mini to junior rugby.

Heath captain Nick Main led his team onto the pitch through a flag waving guard of honour formed by the Club’s County Championship winning Under 10s squad and the support seemed to galvanise the home team who were competitive from the off. Early pressure from Heath kept Eastbourne pinned in their own half and, even though the visitors had a large pack, the more mobile home team gained control of the initial exchanges. A fine passage of play from Heath unpicked the Eastbourne defence and a great offload from winger Matt Duncan put Robbie Fotheringham in for a score as Heath turned the early territory advantage into points, 5-0. Eastbourne fought back in determined fashion and whilst unable to threaten the home try line kept the Heath attack at distance until shortly before half time when a drive up the middle led to a penalty which Robbie Fotheringham struck sweetly over the posts to make the score 8-0 at the break.

With the game under control on yet another warm September Saturday afternoon, Heath turned to their substitutes to maintain their intensity. It wasn't long into the second half before Heath - cheered on by the enthusiastic crowd - were on the attack again and after a purposeful drive from Joss Townsend sucking in the visitors defence, Eastbourne yielded another penalty at the breakdown which was again converted by Fotheringham. Eastbourne's forceful pack continued to test the home defence which stood firm until about five minutes from time when a speculative kick deep in to Heath territory gained a fortuitous bounce and Eastbourne scored on the wide right hand side of the pitch.

From the restart Heath were able to reassert their dominance and gained strong, attacking field position from a penalty that Fotheringham drilled into the corner. A drive from the line out created a platform from which Jamie Diggle ran at a beautiful angle carving through the defence to score under the posts on his debut for the Club. Fotheringham capped his Man of the Match performance by adding the two points meaning a home win for Heath at the final whistle, 18-5. Another good day for Heath maintaining their momentum in pursuit of promotion with a strong team performance which sent the large crowd back to the Clubhouse to celebrate.