A first hint of Winter in the air by the coast, as the Devs travelled to Seaford for their latest waterfall fixture; their previous fixture being forfeited by the opposition. Thankfully, given the recent downpours, conditions were good underfoot, which no doubt contributed to the high scoring game that was to follow.

Due to Seaford’s limited resources, a 13v13 game had been arranged. From the early exchanges it was apparent this Heath squad would be too strong, scoring directly from returning the kickoff (Johnson). After some messy early phases, Heath’s forwards began to dominate possession, getting the ball moving through the backs, with an early brace of tries for Phillips – 21-0 after 10 minutes. Even the loan of Johnson didn’t stem the tide, with a kickoff return resulting in some direct running and a Branagan try, before Johnson returned the favour to get Seaford on the board. After the subsequent kick off return resulted in a try from close quarters for Tame, the forwards then got in on the act, first Coyne, then Bending capitalising on a kick over the top by Barnett to complete the chase.

At this point, the only sensible course of action was to even things up further, with Heath’s entire front row swapping with Seaford. This gave Seaford a much-improved platform to gain some possession and territory, a clever grubber resulting in a second Seaford try – 45-10 at the break.

Things were understandably a bit more disjointed in the second half, evening things up somewhat, but Heath adapted well to add further scores; Phillips running an excellent inside line, a brace for Barnett (to add to his eight conversions), and a standout effort from Steadman, finishing bravely in the corner. Johnson added another for Seaford, before Coyne ended proceedings with a fine breakaway try, capping an excellent all-round Heath performance with a final score of 67-15.

Special mention should go to Johnson, McDonagh, Kirkman and Stone for donating their services to Seaford, and the coaching team for the suggestion, ensuring everyone got to enjoy a great morning of rugby.

(PS great to see Bradford Jr. on the sidelines supporting his teammates once again whilst recovering from injury – all looking forward to his return to action in a couple of weeks)