On a cool but dry day with a breeze down and across a reasonably dry pitch, Heathfield with improved form kicked off against a Cranbrook XV with a number of changes and players in unfamiliar positions.
Fielding the kick off Fabian Rimmer returned it, but Heathfield reset and soon the scrum half was breaking tackles and proceeded close to the tryline before being tackled. Cranbrook cleared as Josh Pankhurst made a timely interception, but it was not long after that Heathfield were again running at pace at what was a porous defence for a centre to score all too easily.
Things got worse as the kick off was over hit directly to touch and soon as the Heathfield backs again made ground, James Yeomans was carded for a tackle against a player without the ball. Then at a scrum where Cranbrook were adjudged to have collapsed it, the penalty kicked to touch near the 5-metre mark was caught and driven over for the second try. The Heathfield pack had a good day with some perhaps surprising scrum dominance and lineout steals.
Cranbrook then had a good spell which resulted in a succession of penalties against the hosts near the tryline. The catch and drive attempts were successfully defended but the ball was moved to the other side of the pitch where left wing Elliot Barbour was able to score.
This was as good as it got for Cranbrook as straight away Heathfield replied as a centre ran through a weak defence from distance, the 4th bonus point try arrived before the half hour as more tackles were missed and to make matters worse both Rimmer and Yeomans had to retire with injury. The 5th try looked suspect as a knock on appeared to be missed. Cranbrook now had some ball and Josh Pankhurst in particular ran hard, but more missed tackling allowed the strong running scrum half a run in as the halftime interval was reached at 38-5.
With the wind Cranbrook started the second half well but never looked to be as penetrative as Heathfield whose tackling was also secure. This was particularly noteworthy as Cranbrook tried a number of catch and drives which were expertly and energetically stifled except when a high tackle against the returning Guy Crouchman earned a card for the offending second row. This did not inconvenience Heathfield as a centre scored after an interception and the swift fullback scored the first of 2 tries from around halfway. Although Cranbrook had some ball and showed energy, they could not live with the pacy Heathfield runners who had little difficulty in breaking through.
For Cranbrook it was good that scrum half Hugo Orpin made a fine job of covering for the injured Rimmer at flyhalf, with lovely crisp passing. Darryl Horton-Judge made a turnover late in the game typifying his usual industrious game, Josh Parkes got a reasonable amount of lineout ball and Crouchman was competitive on his return.
Cranbrook have had some difficult games this season and have always shown great spirit. Today they looked like a side that seems likely to be relegated, but some key upcoming games give them still the chance to escape.
1 M Stockman 2 J Pankhurst 3 J Yeomans 4 R McDowell 5 J Parkes 6 D Houghton-Judge 7 B Pearce 8 G Crouchman 9 H Orpin 10 F Rimmer captain 11 E Barbour 12 C Tomlin 13 C Fowler 14 J Forknall 15 S Jovanovic. Replacements B Sutton for Rimmer 22mins, to 7, Pearce to 9, Orpin to 10, J Bushell for Yeomans 25mins J Bramley for Pankhurst 70min
Match report by Philip Rimmer