Heath 34, Old Dunstonians 10: Five try home win for Heath

Although the snow was melting a wintery drizzle meant it was still bitterly cold and the pitch was sticky so a hard afternoon's work lay ahead for both sides. This was Heath's first game since defeating local rivals Pulborough at the back end of 2016 but due to their collecting full points following the cancellation by Eastbourne of last week's game, the home side was now sitting in fourth place in the league.

Playing downhill Heath were quickly into their stride with their animated forwards immediately gaining the upper hand with strong ball carrying around the fringes putting the visitors on the back foot. A couple of opportunities came and went and after the advantage failed to materialise from an Old D's infringement, player/coach Peter Kerins converted the penalty to put points on the board reflecting the Heath possession and territory - 3-0.

Heath continued to dominate the exchanges with the pack excellent in the tight and loose and the three quarters looking menacing every time they had ball in hand. Other than a long range penalty attempt form the visitors which went wide, Heath looked comfortable although for all their possession they couldn't keep the scoreboard ticking over. Eventually the try came following several phases and a hard line run by captain Nick Main from a ruck to score. Kerins added the points for a deserved 10 - 0 lead.

Old Dunstonians responded with their best spell of the game with their forwards driving up the slope with some decent rugby particularly from their number 8. They were rewarded when Heath infringed and they took the points to cut the deficit to 10-3.

Heath were back on the board a short while later when the forwards drove up to the Old D's line with a number of carries from which hooker Wilf Bridges dived over. Kerins knocked the conversion over for 17 -3 which is how it remained until the interval.

This week it wasn't to be a game of two contrasting halves for Heath and from the restart they pushed on in search of the try bonus point. A penalty from the kick off was taken quickly by scrum half Brett Menefy and moved wide right where centre Jack Lucas was lurking. Lucas went round the defender to dot down in the corner for 22-3.

Lucas was back on the score sheet a short while later when managing to blast his way through the defenders for his second of the afternoon. Kerins couldn't make what was a difficult kick but at 27 -3 with the four try bonus point secured in tough conditions it seemed like job done.

Old Dunstonians were not going down without a fight and they responded with a well taken try of their own to pull the score back to 27 -10. The biggest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for Heath's fifth and final try of the day when first team manager and substitute full back Sam Galbraith, returning from a career threatening injury, managed to crawl over the try line to score having slipped five yards out. Kerins rounded off the afternoon with the conversion for a final score of 34-10.

Maximum points for Heath in 2017 means that they have moved up to third in the league with 8 games of the season to go and are in touching distance of second place with some key games to come. Next week the team do not have a fixture but the next match is a tricky game away at Ashford. The Heath RAMs game against St Francis was postponed.

Heath 1st XV squad: Jack Bull (Joss Townsend), Wilf Bridges, Euan Greaves-Smith, Nick Miller, Dan Shotton, Sam Drage (Harry Preston- Bell), Josh Salisbury, Nick Main (capt), Brett Menefy, Peter Kerins, Roscoe Atkins, Robbie Fotheringham, Jack Lucas, Bobby Conroy-Smith, Henry Warwick (Sam Galbraith)