Heathfield & Waldron VS Bromley RFC

CONVINCING WIN FOR BROMLEY AT HEATHFIELD AND WALDRON

 Bromley travelled into the countryside to play Heathfield and Waldron in what has always proved a tricky fixture for the away side and this game was no exception. For Bromley, there was only one change in the forwards with Lee coming in for Holland and in the backs, there were opportunities for some of the younger players in the form of Rushton and Donald and Laws returned to form a very solid midfield with Rice. The match itself was played in increasingly gloomy conditions and the pitch was heavy making flowing rugby difficult. The locals indicated the pitch was little different from last week when their league fixture was not played but there was no issue this week as both teams wanted to play and they just cracked on with it.

The first ten minutes or so was all about territory with a lot of aerial ping pong. On twelve minutes the home side established field position and from a lineout they surged towards the try line to release Irwin to score a well constructed try which was converted. The Bromley response was pretty immediate and they put the pressure on leading to an eminently kickable penalty in front of the posts but this opportunity was spurned with a miss which was a portent for the rest of the game. Still, Bromley persisted and they won another penalty. One of their players infringed again by not retreating and he had to depart the scene for ten minutes. The away side used this advantage to good effect and on twenty two minutes a clever interchange between the half backs allowed skipper George Scott to cross the whitewash. No conversion 7-5. Heathfield hit back two minutes later when they were awarded a penalty about forty metres out and their very good kicker Simpson landed it to put them five points up with fifteen minutes to go to half time.

Bromley were not deterred and were soon on the front foot. On thirty one minutes from an attacking lineout, the ball was shifted rapidly and Captain Fantastic was in again but no conversion. The away side kept at it with the forwards turning the screw. The home team were penalised yet again and from the resultant scrum you know who scored another cleverly worked try and with the conversion the score at the break was 10-17. This had been a hard fought forty minutes of rugby but there were clues as the half progressed as to where Bromley could have more success. The coaches and players accordingly laid their plans and the black and ambers more or less controlled most of the second period rarely letting Heathfield and Waldron out of their own half.

The success was built on forward dominance, speed around the ruck and solid unrelenting defence. It was not a day for chucking the ball about but instead waiting for your opportunities and being ruthless when they occurred. The Bromley scrum had their opposite numbers in a world of trouble and on the back of this two more tries were scored – one by Merchandani from a slick blindside move and the other when Bromley turned over a scrum and Donald got in on the right hand side. Neither try was converted leaving the final score at 10-27. This concluded an excellent win on the road for Bromley.

Since Xmas Bromley has been paling pretty free flowing rugby scoring some exciting team tries but today they had to dig in, do the ugly stuff, overcome demanding conditions and slowly subdue a very hardworking and good young home side. Next week is a rest week which will be welcome and give the few that are still on the injured list the time to get themselves fit and available again.

Meanwhile, the third team fresh from their successful and very social away trip to Dorking last week were off on their travels again acquainting themselves with Dartford Valley. On paper it looked like a strong side with a core of experienced players and so it proved as they emerged with an extremely convincing win against gallant but ultimately outplayed opposition. This squad are off on their travels again next week when they venture over to Dartfordians which undoubtedly will be a very demanding fixture. If allowed they will have a home fixture soon.