Borough win in the rain

Heathfield 17 Pulborough 22

Pulborough Scorers:
Tries: J Foulsham 2, J Adeshile, H Hubbard
Conversion: E Gee

Rain is falling, all around me...

In the end this was a good win for Boro against a side that this age group had never beaten before. It wasn't necessarily a flowing performance in a game full of stoppages but there was enough good rugby played, particularly in the second half, to keep the crowd (parents!) interested and it was tense at the end. Apart from the fact that this age group has never beaten Heathfield there are a couple of other facts worth pointing out about the hosts. It is a long way down the A272 and it seems a lot further when you have misread the start time and arrived an hour early. Obviously three under 16's were guaranteed to show plenty of festive understanding for this "easy" mistake and especially the boy child who chose our arrival to reveal that he had read the e-mail and did wonder why......you scumbag, you maggot, you........Secondly it always rains at Heathfield, more "bleak mid-winter" than "Winter Wonderland" and no matter where you stand, the wind goes right through you, it's no place for the old.

In a scrappy start neither side was able to get on top with both unable to get any continuity and not helped by the conditions. The Boro backs looked dangerous when they had space and James F almost scored after 10 minutes when Michael stole a lineout and put him in space. This seemed to get the game going and there were chances at both ends before Boro started playing, having fun...Michael made another break and offloaded to Harry L, to Joe and on the James F who cantered in for the first try. Heathfield were quick to respond and their backs scored a quality try to level things up at 5-5. Game on. Boro responded well and had a period of sustained pressure helped by some good kicking in the wind. This resulted in a tap penalty 5 metres from the Heathfield line from which, after a rehearsal to let Heathfield know exactly what was going to happen, Joe set up James F to score under the posts. Ewan converted for 12-5. The half finished with handbags in the middle of the pitch. This all ended when Mr Hubbard rocked on and reminded the players that it's the season, love and understanding etc.

From the restart Heathfield were the quicker to get going and applied plenty of pressure with the wind now slightly behind them. They deserved a score and got a try early in the second half to get it to 12-10. Flushed with this success they received another bonus when Matt marched out to join them...before realising that Boro were standing down the other end.... However Boro stopped the cavalry and were soon camped on the Heathfield line. After one near miss that involved the referee, James A was able to score Boro's third try to re-establish the lead at 17-10. At this stage Boro were the better team but had clearly got on the wrong side of the referee, conceding several penalties and being marched back 10 metres several times. Having found his voice, (well done coach), Ewan should have stuck to singing Galway Bay rather than pointing out the irony of him being done for a high tackle....back 10...again.
This was now a good game of rugby and Boro were able to seal the match when Harry L kicked through and with Boro regaining the ball Harry H scored to make it 22-10. Boro were playing with some freedom now and looked likely to score again before a mistake let Heathfield break away and score under the posts. This made the final 2 minutes a bit nervy but Boro saw it home 22-17.

A very satisfactory performance, not quite as flowing as some but not helped by the weather and ultimately a first win over Heathfield. Some great individual performances and all boys could have been mentioned as they all made significant contributions. Special mention to Harry on his league debut who made a great impact in the set piece. Good league finish to 2016, Merry Christmas everyone....!