Heath V Hove

So, the second weekend of September and after a great deal of pre-season work we at last had our first "Friendly" of the 2018/2019 Season.
With Whitemans Green bathed in early Autumn sunshine and a stiffening breeze, the boys took to the field for a 3 set match against A League, Hove.

Heath started strongest, dominating the set piece - primarily the scrum - and with the intention to move the ball wide, which we did but Mitch Day and Tom Banks soon discovered that Hove operated a decent drift defence. Switch back to the forwards and some good second and third phase play saw James Watson barrel over from 4 yards out. 5-0 up after 7 minutes - into the breeze Tom Wharton was unlucky not to convert.

Some sloppy defence at the restart allowed Hove straight back into the game on 10 minutes. Heath realised they needed to tighten things up and get back to basics but were a little slow to the breakdown and Hove were able to counter and disrupt at the rucks. The back line ably marshalled by Christian Streater kept trying to move the ball wide but it was a little too early and the boys were a bit rusty. The first 20 ended 5-5.

With a number of planned changes Heath started well enough, great pressure on Hove led Tom Roberts on a kick and chase out of our 22 and then Tom Wharton took over with his pace and footballing skills to dribble into their 22 before the ball duly popped up nicely for him to touch down under the posts, the conversion was missed and Heath were 10-5 up. A few minutes later, Heath were again guilty of a lack of concentration as Hove moved the ball wide and were able to squeak into the corner. The score remained 10-10 for the second session. Both teams looked to punch holes with their forwards but kept going in 1's rather than pairs and possession switched back and forth.

Roll on the third session and more changes as Heath tried to push on for the win - 7 minutes in and Mat Cains was able to demonstrate his speed and strength having been shipped the ball well, giving him time and space to power round his wing and dot down near the posts, Will Goodwin duly converted and Heath were 17-10 ahead. Again Heath went to sleep from the restart - a harsh call enabled Hove to build from the ensuing penalty to score 17-15. Hove were re-energised and quickly added another try to take it to 17-20 with time running out.

The determination was there for all the boys and the pack kept hammering away at a very good Hove defence. Finally with less than a minute to go, three strong phases from the tireless forwards resulted in Mitch Day with a little space on the left wing which he duly exploited showing a clean pair of heels to dive over in the corner, Goodwin's conversion dropped just short but the day was won 22-20.

Heath learnt a few lessons today and there is no better occasion for this to happen than a warm up game where everyone gets some game time. We knew where their strengths were after 20 minutes but up front we still continued to take ball up too close to the last breakdown where the Hove back row were very streetwise. We must learn to redirect our attacking game away from the opposition strength. In this case play our first few phases outside the 10 channel and move their back row about. We need to communicate to get numbers closer to the ball carrier and strike out wide at the correct times, not from first phase ball.

Having said that there were plenty of positives. Scrums were extremely solid and Alfie Bedford made an impressive start to his first game at Hooker. When we competed against the Hove lineout, Kai Jutson won some great steals and from some of these plays Bobby Collins, Ben Dronfield and Sam Hearn all ran well with ball in hand but we need bodies around them early to win the breakdown on our terms and we must always lift & jump against the opposition when they have lineout balls as it puts them under more pressure.

There were also moments of silky hands from our backs - mentioned also by the Hove head Coach - which was very pleasing as we have worked hard on this all pre-season. Running from Matt Cains, Barney Scott, Will Goodwin and Mitch Day was solid and we need to get them more ball in the right areas of the park. Our back line defence was on the whole pretty solid as well.

If we knuckle down, accept that we can learn a great deal from this and work hard on the things we need to improve on in training we can go along way this season. Most of all it was great to see the heart and determination is still there from each and every one of the boys, we kept going to the final minute to secure a win and we deserved it. Well done!

Big shout to Tom Banks who injured his shoulder very badly in the first 20 minutes. Tom has been working very hard all pre-season and was fit and ready to go for this. A nasty shoulder injury can be a very painful experience and we wish him all the best in his recovery. Good luck Tom from us all!