Heath lose out despite 2nd half fightback

Haywards Heath Rugby Club captain Sam Drage leads his men onto the pitch for a tough match against Gravesend SUS-181022-123122002

Haywards Heath 1st XV ran out onto the pitch with confidence on Saturday looking to build on an honourable draw against Dover last time out and put their league campaign back on track.

However they were up against a determined Gravesend side who were sitting alongside Heath in the London & South East 2 league and themselves looking to push on in their 2018/19 quest for league success.

Heath did themselves no favours by giving away two early penalties which Gravesend converted into an early 0-6 lead – giving the opposition a headstart which would ultimately prove to be the difference between the sides.

Despite a difficult start, Heath regrouped and some strong forward play saw them creep into the visitors’ 22, however handling errors let them down at crucial times and Gravesend were able to clear their lines and take the game back to the Heath half.

And so continued this game with Heath working hard to create opportunities but finding it impossible to convert them into points.

In contrast with a Heath man sin binned, Gravesend took advantage of their numbers and managed to score a try just before half time meaning Heath faced a 0-11 deficit as they turned around for the second half.

The break appeared to galvanise both teams and Heath came out fighting with an early try from Max Drage giving them hope of a comeback.