Salisbury 5 - 7 Heathens Academy

Another cold British winter's day met the Heathens on their trip to Salisbury RFC. A somewhat experimental side was put together after the recent injury crisis, which saw Johnny Tourettes turn the air blue over Fareham. Salisbury were known to be a quality side, and they certainly caused the Heathens a few problems.

The home side were quickest out the blocks, and some attractive, free-flowing rugby defied the conditions to put Fareham on the back foot. An early chip ahead caught Nobby Wrightson wring-footed and a scramble ensued to clear up what could have been a costly mistake. Salisbury kept up the tempo, and it was a good 15mins before Fareham found their feet. Some strong attacking play through the forwards saw Rob Elsmore breaking the defensive to set up a couple of good plays that threatened the Salisbury defence. A great sweep up the left, followed by some fast hands saw Rhys White with the opportunity to touch down, but he was stopped just short.

It was the home team that made the breakthrough on 33mins, when Dancing Dave forgot he was playing rugby, not american football and barged his opposite number into next week. Penalty, and some intelligent movement saw Fareham stretched. Fortunately no conversion, and Heathens went into half time 5-0 down.

The second half gave Fareham the advantage of a strong wind and a decent slope, could they take advantage? A determined effort saw them camped in the opposition half for long periods, but to no avail. Finally a strong drive up the centre of the park gave Tom Hiron the chance to dive for the line – TRY! – actually no. A very dubious decision saw it disallowed for a double movement. Other sides would have dropped their heads at this point, but not Heathens. The never say die attitude has carried them through adversity on many occasions and this was to be no exception. Massive performances from 1 to 15 led to a 5m scrum. Salisbury defended for their lives, phase after phase Heathens attacked, until a deft pass by Harrod fed Jon Dawes to score under the posts with 2mins to. Dawes also converted, and Heathens managed to hang on for the win.

Another game against top quality opposition, and another top performance. The perfect preparation going into next week's league match against old rivals Havant. The day was topped off with the news of Heathens first XV getting a much needed morale boosting win over New Milton, two out of two for Geech and Telfer – is there no end to their mad coaching skillz?

Scores

33 mins Opposition Try

HALF TIME

68 mins Try (Dawes – converted, Dawes)