Sidcup RFC

The Haywards Heath pitch seemed to be impressively wide although it was a bit “claggy”. There appeared to be little wind advantage. Haywards Heath kicked off and within a minute were in the lead. Sidcup put up a kick from the maul following the reception but the chase was half-hearted: Haywards Heath collected the ball under little pressure and a couple of passes later Dom Fry had touched down. Within five minutes, Sidcup looked as though they would be on level terms as Gareth McRae made a good break and kicked ahead. With Sidcup chasers outnumbering the defenders a try seemed likely but the ball was fly kicked over the dead ball line.

With barely a quarter of an hour played, Haywards Heath increased their lead when, following a ruck in the Sidcup twenty two, stand off Rob Jackson gave a simple show and go and touched down for a try he converted. Sidcup came back into the game as Richard Day made a couple of hard running breaks but both moves petered out through errors. Eventually Sidcup kicked a penalty to touch in the home right corner and, from the line-out, the driving maul rumbled over. Your Correspondent couldn’t spot the scorer but it was probably one of the usual suspects. Jim Hardy converted.

Although Sidcup were within striking distance, the mistakes continued. Jackson’s kicking from hand was causing Sidcup problems as far too many balls were bouncing and the visitors were put under pressure by well organised chases. With half-time approaching, Haywards Heath once again won a series of rucks in the Sidcup twenty two and Gareth Quay found an opening for a converted try. There was just time for Sidcup to threaten to score from another driving maul but the chance was lost when they failed to “use it” as instructed by the referee.

The third quarter saw Sidcup get back into the game and promptly get back out of it. The visitors reduced the error count and, as a result were able to control the match. Good runs by McRae, Julian Poff and Richard Roddis created pressure on Haywards Heath who conceded a string of penalties. Hardy struck the ball beautifully and never looked like missing any of his four kicks. The Sidcup scrum was well on top through the efforts of Alex Isaacs and Sam Carmen although the line-out was a bit creaky. Within five minutes of the visitors getting on level terms, Jackson put in another fine kick to the Sidcup line. For the first and only time in the half, Sidcup were on the defensive but were awarded a scrum and for the only time in the game the scrum was disrupted. Josh Salisbury pounced on the ball and scored.

Sidcup still had twenty minutes left and spent most of it within thirty yards of the Haywards Heath line. However a combination of excellent defence, outstanding defensive kicking by Jackson and a high error count meant that they were unable to score the crucial try. Roddis, Poff and Peter Grayson all went close but the support didn’t seem to arrive quickly enough for the ball to be recycled and the pressure to be maintained. A McRae grubber was collected by Hardy who went over in the corner but the kick had touched the line. A final charge by Roddis looked as though it might pull off a result but the defence stood firm.

Once again Sidcup had more than enough opportunities to win a match they lost but a combination of manner of execution and decision making let them down and it was only through immaculate place kicking by Jim Hardy that they managed to squeeze a losing bonus point out of the match. Michael Ubee, on his return, distributed well and Richard Day ran impressively. Alex Isaacs and Sam Carmen had the better of their opposite numbers but it was unfortunate that the only scrum which went wrong cost the winning score. It also became clear during the game that a number of Sidcup players need to attend Gender Recognition Course as they persisted in referring to referee Tracy Pettingale, very clearly female, as “Sir”.

This Saturday Sidcup entertain old rivals Sutton and Epsom. The game should finish in just enough time for players and spectators to watch the Calcutta Cup from Edinburgh. There will be plenty of screens at Sidcup but your Correspondent will go home to watch from behind the sofa following the dastardly English press awarding Scotland the mantle of favourites- it can only end in disaster.