Heathens Academy 14 - 3 Havant

It was league time again and the Heathens players turned up at Cams Alders to find some early bird Havant players already busy warming up. They clearly cared a lot about this match, and were keen on taking Heathens' unbeaten record on home ground.

The Mayor of Fareham was in attendance, and there was a buzz around the ground. Fareham warmed up and looked to be on top form, spirits were high and the players were keen to get on with the job in hand. Things wouldn't go all their way however, and it was Havant who opened the scoring with a penalty. The fact that both touch judges declared the kick a miss added a fair bit of controversy but the scoreboard showed 3-0. Havant had the better of the play for the remainder of the first half, but the home team's defending was resolute and they never really looked like taking advantage of the posession. Going in behind is not something Heathens like, and harsh but true half time words from the coaches saw a resurgence in the spirit of the players. As pointed out by the Havant coach after the match, we are a relatively new club without many traditions, but we do have one we hold dear – and that is winning.

The second half saw a complete turnaround. Havant were pinned back in their half for long periods but still Heathens could not break through. A moment of inspiration was needed, fortunately Joey Clark provided it. A loose pass from Havant was read brilliantly, and Clark intercepted and ran between the posts. Dawes converted, and heads were up. Heathens were on top, but some more dubious decisions broke their flow. Some good phases up the park saw a sustained period in the Havant 22, and Aaron Harrod drove over to take the match to 14-3. Havant regrouped and put some pressure back on Fareham, but again the defence was just too strong.

All in all it was a match that was far harder to win than it should have been. Credit to Havant, they trained hard and caused us a few problems. But this is quite possibly the beginning of something special at this small club – in the last two weeks we have fielded six sides from the 1st XV to the Academy XV and all six have returned winners. A huge endorsment of the hard work and effort being put in by players, coaches and volunteers alike.

Finally, a very Merry Christmas one and all. And here's to a great new year where we can grow this club to be bigger, stronger and hopefully develop some great new traditions, and continue keeping the old ones.

Scores

8 mins Opposition Penalty

HALF TIME

37 mins Try (Clark – converted, Dawes)
49 mins Try (Harrod – converted, Dawes)