The weather at Waterhall was extremely windy and this conspired to ensure a scrappy first half performance from both Brighton and Heathfield sides.
Brighton started the brighter side with a forwards dominated try from good, tight possession from the half way line. Heathfield hit back some 10 minutes later with a break away try following some on the floor handling by Brighton - a gifted try. Errors in both back lines meant that there was no real continuity in the first half and Brighton had the ascendancy in the loose play between the forward.
Brighton lost a number of scrums against the head although this was largely due to the excellent technique of the Heathfield hooker, as opposed to any major domination by strength. Brighton were next on the score sheet with the forwards crashing over from a line out drive. Again, Heathfield broke the line from some poor Brighton tackling to even the try count by half time. Brighton led by one conversion.
Heathfield were first on the score sheet from half time where sluggish defence enabled them to start a decent off loading game between their forwards. Their decent 15 springing into the line and outpacing the Brighton winger to score under the posts. A conversion gave Heathfield a single try advantage.
Brighton allowed Heathfield to creep back into the game at the breakdown and a very poor 10 minutes saw a display of how not to tackle from the back line as Heathfield ran in two easy tries, gifted by Brightons sloppy defending.
However, Brighton heads didnt drop and they roared back in the last 5 minutes with the forwards dominating the loose play. Another try for the front row saw Bailey smash over from 5 metres, the conversion well taken, narrowing the score. From the kick, more Brighton pressure sucked in the Heathfield defence and made space out side allowing Oscar to break over from the 22 and score. The missed conversion heralded the final whistle, with the score 24 - 27 to the visitors.
A real shame for Brighton who really, on balance should have won this game. However, credit to Heathfield who made the most of their chances and came away with the win in difficult conditions.