RUGBY: Five out of Five
6 December: H&B 33, Brockleians 12
13 December: Gravesend II 31, H&B 32
MAX MOWBRAY
Hastings & Bexhill RFC stormed into third place last Saturday after their fifth consecutive victory in the Kent Counties League.
On 6 December the boys in blue & white hosted a hardy Brockleians side, and showed them what Hastings rugby is all about. After a slow start, the play started to flow and Hastings began to put away scores from every foray into the opposition 22.
At the half, they led 14-5. Scrum half Isaac Wales keeps his name in contention for the season’s top try scorer, taking both tries in the first half, with king of the sticks Tom Hirst slotting both conversions.
The second half saw some attractive play from the home side, highlighted by three more tries. Young gun George Feeley added another to his tally (21-5), before Wales made his hat trick (28-5).
In the final quarter, the toll began to tell. Wales took a knock to the ankle during a beastly tackle, and Hastings went one prop down to boot. Amid the tension, captain Harry Walker added a yellow card to his growing list, and Hastings found themselves defending their own try line with 13 men, conceding a score in the process, 28-12.
Spirits peaked in the final moments when back row Max Mowbray plucked a final try from the air, taking the high ball from the boot of Walker and scoring down the left side, finishing the game 33-12.
LATE BURST SECURES AWAY WIN
Winning ways continued last Saturday (13 December) when H&B headed to Gravesend for a top four contest.
Under the cosh from the start, Hastings conceded first, but answered quickly with a well-struck penalty from the boot of Hirst: 7-3.
The game continued in this vain until half time, with Gravesend scoring another try, followed by a response from Hastings. Swift hands put Hirst in on the wing, with a classy finish under the posts, finishing the half with a four point deficit: 21-17.
With the bomb squad of Kaleb Wiggan and Sam Surridge bolstering the Hastings ranks, the battle continued. Gravesend crossed the try-line twice in a row while Hastings fumbled several opportunities.
Finally, Hirst used more devastating pace to see in his hat-trick of tries, before scoring another penalty to put Hastings within a score (31-25).
Despite flanker Max Mowbray doing his best to derail the day’s efforts by butchering a five-on-one opportunity, Hastings stayed stuck in, putting increasing pressure on the home side’s line.
Finally, a weaving break from Walker put the blue & white shirts within five metres, and young handsome hooker Noah Lindfield was able to cross the whitewash with a lovely line off Walker’s shoulder, 31-30. An easy conversion for Hirst put the visitors ahead by a point with 90 seconds to play.
Safe carrying and good decisions enabled H&B to see out the victory for an important win, raising them into third place in the league.
Meanwhile, Hastings’ 2nd XV were celebrating another convincing victory, topping a travelling Newick 48-24.
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