Sep 8

Written by: Richard Drage
08/09/2009 08:27

The first game of the season saw Hellingly travel up from Sussex to play Reigate in the opening fixture of the Junior Vase Cup competition. Reigate sent their second team down to Bognor for the day and fielded a 1st team similar to last season with its characteristic blend of youth and experience.

The new Reigate captain, James Blashfield, led the team out and weather conditions were dry and bright. Straight from the kick off the game was a physical contest, with most of the play restricted to the forwards. Spectators lost count of the number of scrums, with Hellingly the stronger side, pushing Reigate back on most occasions. Line out ball was shared evenly between the two sides, both winning the majority of their own ball however Reigate’s 7ft second row Adam Betteley (aka Hightower) was a dominant presence at the front.

The first half looked likely to finish 0-0 until a well worked series of short runs from the forwards gained enough ground for Reigate's scrum half Rick Drage to distribute the ball quickly and fast hands from the backline saw Simon King open his account for the season in the left hand corner just shy of half time. The score went unconverted, so the first half ended 5-0 in Reigate’s favour.

Hellingly bounced back in the second half with an early converted try followed by a penalty taking them into a 10-5 lead, and despite Reigate playing much of their rugby in Hellingly’s half and edging possession in the loose, they could not quite respond with any points. The ball was not being recycled particularly cleanly by either side with particular confusion seeming to reign around the rucks as both sides struggled to adapt to the referee's interpretation of the breakdown.

Despite the efforts of Reigate's number 8, Mike Jones, to galvanise the forwards to control ownership of the ball, and with the customary big hits coming from Andy Turner and Matt Sanford, Hellingly were fortunate to score a second, breakaway try to make the score 17-5 at full time, flattering the visitors. Reigate will return to training on Wednesday with some work to do but with some optimism given their performance against a much heavier pack.

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