After starting the season strongly against London Cornish only to let the victory slip away, the wheels fell off in Round 2 for a naive team disrupted by illness, injury and other absences. Round 3 at home against familiar local rivals had to be a fresh start, and nothing but a win would do.

The Haywards Heath rivalry has been renewed this season with their well-earned promotion to Counties 1, and the EG 2nd XV promotion to Counties 3. A double header at home in the late summer sunshine set the scene perfectly for the boys in blue and white.

The Gs started the game controlling possession and maintaining a strong defensive press to stay in the opposition half. After setting up a maul off a lineout in the 22, quick hands and footwork from the backs generated front-foot ball for three phases until Ali Moffatt was unmarked to score on the opposite wing.

Just three minutes later, Moffatt was denied a second try by a deliberate knock-on by the last defender 10m out. The referee gave a yellow card but not a penalty try, claiming that Haywards Heath had another defender covering Ali's wing.

At the end of the first quarter, still against 14 men, left wing Jake Radcliffe danced his way deep into the 22 again before more strong carrying in midfield created an overlap on the right. This time, full back Alistair Yaffa opted for a show-and-go to slice through the defenders coming across. 14-0 to the hosts, but we'd been in a similar position against London Cornish. We needed to stretch our lead.

Many scrums and injury stoppages later, the search for a third score continued with half time looming. Possession had failed to turn into points until the last play of the half, with a perfectly executed training ground move off a scrum just outside the 22. No.8 Dan Billin picked up at the base and passed to Chris Taylor, growing nicely into his role at scrum half, to finish off a 2-on-1 for last week's Man of the Match Moffatt's second try.

19-0 was a more comfortable half time score, but not a satisfactory return from the possession we had enjoyed, and definitely not enough to consider the game won. Haywards Heath were not giving up, and EG bodies started to fatigue as their pick-and-go game hammered towards the try line in the first 5 mins of the half to bring it to 19-7.

A missed penalty from fly half Luke Maker denied the chance to wrestle back some scoreboard momentum for the home side. But this was quickly followed by a viral scrum turnover on the half way line, with scrum half Taylor seizing the opportunity to dart blind and unleash Radcliffe down the left wing to score untouched.

Aware that they weren't going to get far by running around in the backs, Haywards Heath targeted the short phases to soak up defensive pressure and create gaps. This scrappy style of game brought them two more tries, resulting in a nervy last 5 minutes at 24-19.

Fuelled by the heartbreak against London Cornish, the Gs kept their composure, playing smart rugby to keep a resurgent Heath at bay. After a brief scare when their 9 skipped through the middle of our defensive lineout, the defence rallied and a knock-on brought the game to an end, to the cheers of the nervous home spectators.

Despite some lessons to learn about turning possession into points, this was a step up from the previous games and a deserved win to get into the season. A real team effort saw scrum dominance and front foot ball from the forwards give a solid platform for our backs to play off and find space, with 4 tries from our impressive back three. For punching above his weight in defence, as ever, as well as playing a crucial role in freeing up the outside backs, vice captain Chris May-Miller was awarded Man of the Match.

Lots to celebrate after two wins in a home double header v Haywards Heath, but thoughts have quickly turned to Weybridge Vandals away this weekend, and how to take this performance with us on the road.