Haywards Heath 29 Shelford 20 

Saturday saw us travel to Haywards Heath who were top of the table and having now played them you can see why but equally a game we could and possibly should have won.

Our performance overall was very good and if there was to be a particular reason we lost, it is that we did not score enough in the first half with the wind behind us. We started very well and dominated the first twenty five minutes with scores from A Wallace and W Green with J Worhington adding a conversion but then we sat back slightly and allowed them to score so at half time we led 12 – 5.

With the elements behind them they started to control the second half and with two quick scores led 17 – 12 but that kick started our response and with a J Briggs try and a J Worthington penalty we led 20 -17 and did so till five minutes to go. Unfortunately as Haywards Heath put pressure on our line the ref felt the heat too and gave a penalty try for us collapsing a maul for the third time – not sure he got it right but you can’t change his decision and as we then tried in vain to score the winner we conceded again leaving the final score 29 – 20. On the whole it was a very good, evenly contested encounter and I am pretty confident we can overturn this result when they come to our place. Our focus now is to continue this form into the remainder of this season and still be in with a shout at the end.