Cranleigh V Heath 26/11

Heath find their killer instinct in the final 20 minutes but just miss out on the win.

In a reversal of usual form, Heath boys started slow but finished hard in an exciting game of end to end rugby that had the spectators on the edge of their seats and the coaches feeling confident about the rest of the season.

With several of the more experienced players unavailable it looked like Cranleigh were going to overwhelm in the first half. Despite some great defending at the try line, killer tackles from Mitch Day and Bobby Collins and the ball being held up once or twice, Cranleigh laid down two tries in quick succession.

Mid way through the first half, the Heath boys remembered how to score as Lewis Goodall nailed the first of two tries with a conversion from William Goodwin. Not long after, William Ratoff put his boot to good use with a soaring kick that took Heath back near the try line when, after an excellent rolling maul, Alfie Bedford took the ball over the line.

The beginning of the second half started slow again and it seemed Cranleigh were stretching their lead when, at 21 points down and with a limited squad, the Heath boys dug deep and transformed themselves into a new team. This newly found spirit began to cause havoc to the opposition's plans as Will R fearlessly took on a man-mountain whilst Tom Roberts mid-air interception was genius. Before long Heath were cracking out the tries, Adrian Illes' was converted by Will G and Lewis' got his second.

A line out was won, followed by a nice run from Bobby. Tom R caught the ball at 10 metres and ran it back down to the 22 line. Will G continued to impact the score line with a try, the boys won possession over multiple phases, penalties were won, scrums were taken and everyone's match notes become a bit sketchy but safe to say another 10 minutes of play like that and the final score would probably have gone Heath's way!

The coaches felt it was some of the best play they had seen from the boys this season and it gave them confidence for the upcoming league matches - if they can perform at that level for 60 minutes, they could be unstoppable.