Heathens Academy 61 - 0 Alton

For the last few months there have been a few people in the Heathens clubhouse telling anyone who'll listen that the performances so far are just the tip of the iceberg. That the great results haven't quite matched the ability of the players. That there was undoubtedly more to come. Well today, they were proved right.

The Heathens players stepped up, took the game to Alton and for the first time things just went right. The opening minutes wre edgey, physical and bruising. Both sides fancied this one and it was clear to see. A lineout on half way gave the home pack the opportunity to set a marker, and after securing the ball at the front they proceeded to march their opponents up the park, making yard after yard. A series of penetrating phases proved too much and penalties were conceded. Jon Dawes stepped up, 3-0 and the nerves were settled. What followed this set the pace for the remainder of the game. The forwards played some sublime phases up the right hand side, sucking in defenders. The backs got involved, keeping the ball alive. Openside John Field saw the opportunity and an inch perfect miss pass left the Combat Wombat one on one. He duly touched down.

Heathens kept their heads back, didn't relax and went straight again for another score. More dominant forward play allowed Ashley Dale to release the backs at precisely the right moment, Dawes and Clark combining in a pivot move that ripped open holes like a tin opener on a can of tuna. Rob Wrightson bursting through the middle, setting up clean ball to keep the move alive. How appropriate then that Wrightson finished the move in the corner, the backs were on fire and there was no stopping them now.

Or was there? Alton regrouped, and put a sustained period of pressure on the Academy. Scrambling defence, and some opportunistic turnovers from man of the match AJ Mills kept them out. From here it was all Heathens. Indiana Ginge tried his best to kill the game off with no less than four ASBOs between the sides, single handedly re-writing the English dictionary, removing certain naughty words from it. Someone will most definitely be a few ginger hairs lighter come April.

Heathens bounced back, their heads were up and they were going to rectify the mistakes against Jersey and close this game out. A total of ten tries were scored, from both free-flowing moves and traditional forward power. Conor Snell beating four players at a time, before revealing he inherits his dancing feet from his father who was a Vegas showgirl named Lola when he was going through that difficult, confusing teenage spell. There was also an unofficial hat trick for Alex Collard, so beers on Ricky on tour.

Back in the changing rooms, the jovial atmosphere proved Heathens are back in the groove. All players were singing along to the camp classic "Gay Bar", before debutant Gedge treated us to a beautiful rendition of Old Macdonald. A huge congratulations to the players, throughout the squad, who's hard work and determination to get things right is starting to pay dividends. It has been a tough learning curve for them, and many others would have become frustrated and given up, but today Heathens Spirit was there for all to see.

Tries: Carter, Wrightson (2), White (2), Collard (2), Snell, Harrod, Paterson
Cons: Dawes (4)
Pens: Dawes