Heathfield RFC Ladies reach National Plate last eight

The Hove kick off put them into home territory and Heathfield struggled to work their way down the field. Possession was equally shared at this stage with both sides failing to make significant penetration out wide.

Hove did have a kickable penalty chance on the quarter hour but the kick was muffed. At a lineout soon afterwards Becky Taylor stole the Hove ball to further relieve pressure. Taylor was part of the home back row alongside Cat Moody and skipper Carol Saunders who were probably the most effective unit in the match.

Having been stuck in their own half, indeed mostly in the 22, throughout the game thus far, with a few minutes left in the half, Saunders came off the back of a scrum and made huge yards to put her side in the Hove half for the first time.

A couple of penalties pushed the visitors into the bottom corner where another tap penalty was carried forward by Taylor and when the ball came back Abi Bandtock charged over beside the corner flag for an important score, just on half time.

Since Hove would have use of the slope in the second half, a 5-0 lead was not significant. Neither side was dominating the set piece so the breakdown, as usual, was key.

Hove started the period strongly and most play was in the home half but again the home defensive efforts were effective. The home pack was starting to have an edge in broken play with Velvet Turner being particularly noted with numerous strong carries in heavy traffic.

On their first visit to the visitors’ 22 in this half a penalty enabled Maya Champion to nudge her side further ahead. Thereafter it looked as though Hove were starting to feel the pressure while Heathfield were growing in confidence.

With the clock ticking down, Hove kept the ball alive with attacks down the left flank but Clare Baker initiated a counterattack that ended with a simple penalty chance under the visitors’ posts. Champion duly added the points to end the game.

This week Heathfield face a different challenge when they travel to Pulborough for an NC 1 league match. (Sun 3 Dec, 2pm).