Eastbourne hampered at Hove – Haywards Heath win at Worthing

Hove 59 Eastbourne 28

Counties 1 Sussex/Surrey

It’s two defeats from two now for Eastbourne – but they have plenty of positives to take from their start to the campaign.

Eastbourne travelled to Hove on Saturday for the second league fixture, and although they opened the season with a defeat, they were full of confidence that they could push on with a win this week.

This wasn't to be, though... it really wasn't Eastbourne's day.

They felt they were the fitter side again, along with also having a solid scrum again.

Eastbourne once again started slowly, and found themselves 10-0 down in a matter of minutes.

And tIt wasn't long before Eastbourne were17-3 down, before Martial Chaput crossed the line to make the score 17-8, with Jake Howe having kicked an earlier penalty.

Hove were next to score, with Eastbourne then responding through Ian Padget and a Howe conversion.

In a very end-to-end game, the half time score was 27-18 following a Howe penalty and another Hove try.

Hove opened the scoring in the second half. While Howe was in the sin-bin for a high tackle, Mason Dowle, who was back from a concussion break, came off the bench to add some much-needed energy and scored a good try.

Ben Perrott, who was the pick of the Eastbourne players, crossed the line shortly after, to bring Eastbourne within six points of level pegging.

Eastbourne missed two golden opportunities to take the lead, before Hove responded with excellent control and kicking from their exceptional fly-half, to score four tries in 15 minutes.

This capped a disappointing and frustrating day for the first team.

They are extremely united and determined to prove they belong at this level, and although they have lost twice, they will look to shock the league and put a performance in that shows they do belong.

They welcome one of the strongest teams in the league this week in Twickenham to Park Avenue for a 3pm kick-off.

This will be the ultimate test so far and Eastbourne will need to put everything they have learned into practice if they are to get a result, which they are confident of doing.

Everyone in the league will have already written Eastbourne off getting a result this weekend.

At 5pm on Saturday we will know if they are right, or if Eastbourne's squad are right – that they can have something to say in this league.

In other news, Eastbourne twos managed a 70-5 win over Horsham threes to top their league after two games.

Eastbourne also fielded a very young third team against St Francis first team and lost a very entertaining game 53-48.

Rugby is very bright at Eastbourne, with over 40 players regularly attending training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

sussexworld.co.uk/sport

Worthing Azurians 26 Haywards Heath 31

Counties 2 Sussex

Heath travelled to Worthing for the second league fixture of the season accompanied by the Rams who were playing on the next door pitch against Worthing fours.

A glorious day greeted the teams and on the main pitch Heath had a disastrous start, coughing up possession from kick-off and conceding a penalty kicked to the corner leading to a driving maul and an early 5-0 lead for Worthing.

With ball in hand Heath looked lively and spun the ball with adventure. However, despite two trips to the red zone the ball would not go to hand.

That was punished by Worthing who worked their way up to the other end through a long kick and good forward play then quickly moved the ball wide to score a second try, 12-0.

An innocuous scrum to Worthing just inside their own half was taken against the head by Heath, leading to important territory gain by way of a series of pick and goes. When the ball was moved to the backs fly half Tom Wharton found inside centre Christian Streeter running an inside line to carve his way under the posts. Wharton added the extras for 12-7.

Although Heath now had a foothold, a loss of concentration and some mediocre tackling saw Worthing pounce through the middle for a score,19-7. Back Heath came and a quick tap penalty in the Worthing half went through fast hands for winger Cam Reed to go over in the corner for 19-12.

Heath had to make adjustments due to injury with skipper Wilf Bridges moving to centre, replaced at No8 by Charlie Bennett.

Another Worthing scrum, this time just outside their 22, was disrupted by a huge shove from the Heath pack allowing scrum half Jamie Thurston to nick the ball as it shot out and beat the covering defence to dot down in the corner. Wharton banged over the conversion from out wide – 19-19 at half-time.

Ten minutes into the second half and a booming Worthing boot from their centre sent the ball into touch deep in Heath territory. An alert Will Galbraith-Gibbons at full-back took a quick throw and ran the ball back before some sharp passing down the left saw impressive Takhy Ndiaye-Marrero acrobatically touch down in the corner for 19-24.

Worthing tried to get some traction in the game by kicking for territory but an immense defensive effort from Heath kept them at bay. That was epitomised by a thunderous tackle in midfield from Bennett allowing Bridges to jackal and win the penalty that was kicked into the opposition half.

A lineout was moved to midfield where back row Otto Serjeant burst through the ruck, drew defenders and put hooker Jack Herbert in to outpace the home tacklers and score under the posts. Wharton converted for 19-31.

A Worthing score from their big centre pulled the score back to 26-31 but Heath's defensive effort held out for a bonus-point win.

On the adjacent pitch the Heath Rams ran away with a 22-52 victory.

GIRLS’ RUGBY

A growing squad of Haywards Heath RFC under-12 girls, boosted in numbers by ongoing collaboration with Uckfield RFC, enjoyed a very successful first outing at the Cobham Festival on Sunday.

Playing four tough games against strong teams from the London/Surrey area, the squad showed grit and determination as they proved they were up to the challenge.

They recorded three great wins and had one narrow defeat and putting in lots of terrific tackles while scoring multiple tries during a fantastic spectacle of girls’ rugby.

Many of the squad were making their debuts, whether their first game for Heath or – in the case of four girls – their first ever game of rugby.

Alongside the developing U12 squad, Heath U14 girls played their first league match against an experienced Horsham side, losing 33-17 but scoring three terrific tries which showed their attacking potential.

Gaining experience and growing in confidence, it’s already clear that there is a very exciting season ahead for the girls’ squads on the pitch at Heath.

It comes as plans cmove forward to build a new clubhouse at Whitemans Green that will provide the facilities long needed to allow girls’ rugby at the club to grow and flourish.

Any girls at U12 or U14 level, regardless of experience and ability, who are interested in joining either squad are welcome to join Heath for a taster session at any time. You can email [email protected] k for more information.