For the fourth match in a row Heath got themselves into a winning position only to throw the game away when playing Sussex rivals Hove.

An early Tom Wharton penalty followed by tries from Jack Lucas and Dan Childs had seemingly put Heath in control of this local derby as the end of the first half approached.

An injury to scrum half Cam Reed and a Heath yellow card for not rolling away at the ruck gave Hove a sniff of a chance which they gratefully took for a 15-5 half time score.

The second half saw more Heath ill discipline with three more yellow cards meaning they played significant chunks of the match with only 13 men. Hove were unable to break down the Heath side when at its full compliment but took advantage of the mismatch in numbers to score four more tries in the second half with Heath only having a Charlie Bennett try to show for their endeavours.

This result drops Heath down the table just above the relegation zone with one match of the league season remaining at home to Trinity on Saturday KO 3pm. With sunshine forecast the HHRFC Clubhouse and balcony will be a great place to be for this end of season contest.

Heath Squad: Euan Greaves Smith; Lewis Goodall; Charles Newey; Pat Steadman; Harry Clarke; Dan Jarman; Josh Salisbury; Toby Vander; Cam Reed; Tom Wharton, Dan Childs; Jack Lucas; Charlie Bennett; Matt Cains; Josh Pratt; Flinn Herbert; Connor Mullins; Josh Mann

Photo: Sally Bliss photo@shoota.uk