Heathfield III 5 - 0 Cinque Ports (HT 5-0)
The signs were not auspicious, the rain was almost horizontal and Heathfield had a huge squad of 25 many of whom played their rugby in higher teams. CPR in comparison travelled with 17, 1 of those being captain Chris Eastwood who had dragged himself out of his sickbed to play. Despite this, and the result this was one of the finest Cinque Ports performances of the season. Playing into roaring winds in the first half the game plan was simple, contain Heathfield and this is what happened. Early possession was dominated by the home team but tackles rained in from CPR. Kim Wan put in some punishing hits around the fringes, and Paul Smart was a constant nuisance winning ball on the floor. Heathfield dominated possession and ran some strong lines but the defence remained strong, Smart yanked down the centre when he had support outside him and Mike Dunne scragged their big runners on a number of occasions. Heathfield did pierce the defence though after CPR had repelled four attacks on the line, eventually running out of defenders and a wide pass found a player in space. Despite the wind Cinque Ports took the game to the hosts, showing massive confidence in the face of the conditions the ball was quickly whipped through the hands at speed. Ross Kearney joined the line sharply before releasing Paolo Perella. Desperate defence eventually pulled the tricky winger down. Dale Whittington and Craig Barningham also forced Heathfield to defend making powerful runs that sucked in the tacklers. The half came to an end with Cinque Ports close to the Heathfield line. Cinque Ports had the benefit of the wind in the second half but Heathfield strengthened their side with a number of younger faces.
These changes seemed to make an early difference with the Heathfield backs looking to run the ball. Despite this no gaps were to be found, Dunne again dragged down a number of big runners and Whittington was everywhere plugging gaps. Again a few tackles were vital with Wan shoving a centre into touch again with support inside him and Nick Giles and Gavin Thomas stopped and dispossessed the scrum half when he thought he was clear. Like the first half as the half drew on so did CPR possession. Whittington and Dunne both collected difficult balls and scooted into space, before support allowed a number of phases. The final ball did let Cinque Ports down though with the line gaping on a number of occasions. With the game ticking down a CPR win looked a distinct possibility a number of penalties kept them in Heathfield territory and a few crunching runs took them close before Dunne was bundled over the line with bodies all around him. The ball was grounded but the ref had already called it held up. Whilst Heathfield could not clear their lines at the end they did hold onto possession enough to wind down the clock but it was clear they had been in a game.
Head Coach named Dunne man of the match “He was everywhere, and showed an excellent work ethic”. Good performances by Craig Barningham and Dale Whittington also supported him as did a very willing effort by Luke Price playing out of position in the forwards. Team Manager Gavin Thomas was full of praise for the teams effort “Despite the conditions and the strength of the opposition squad, we came with an ad hoc side to a team with a real chance of promotion and fought them tooth and nail for 80 minutes. If we’d got a bit more of the rub of the green I’m sure we could have won the game but even in defeat we should be proud of a fierce performance that showed our fighting spirit and our fitness”
Team: Wan, Langley (Eastwood), Giles, Thomas, Whittington, Price, Dunne, Barningham, Fink, Smart, Chambers (Mahoney), Perry, Bigg, Perella, Kearney
