A fully deserved win, on the day

Selection:

Watson, Puttick, Heron, James, Downsborough, Barnes, Sharp, Ward, Rowntree, Scrimshaw, Hinchliffe, Hall, Bruce, Cockroft, Gianotti.
Subs: Bryan, Taylor, Wadsworth & R.Cole.

Tries:

Cockcroft, Bruce, Scrimshaw & Ward.

Report:

Heath welcomed back James Watson and Martyn Barnes in the pack, with Olly Scrimshaw and Gareth Hall returning from first team duty.

Heath started strongly with the pack taking it to the visitors. George Heron and Ian Downsborough carried hard, getting over the gain line and creating good attacking options. Tom Cockroft opened the scoring, finishing off in the corner after great handling in difficult conditions. Ben Gianotti released Tobias Hinchliffe who found the supporting Max Rowntree inside but the ball was lost. Rowntree was involved again, spotting a gap and beating a number of defenders in the middle of the pitch. Morley came back at Heath, pushing hard to open their account, only for Jack Bruce to snap up a loose ball and race clear from halfway to score. From a mistake at the kick off Heath were under pressure and Morley’s strong running fullback blasted through for a converted try. Silla Bryan carried well for Heath and makeshift flanker Sam Sharp was superb in defence all game, affirming his permanent move into the pack. Halftime 10-7.

Morley restarted well, taking the game to Heath with their strong running number eight causing havoc. As they pushed towards the line, a deflected kick landed in the arms of Olly Scrimshaw who set off on a 75 metre lung busting run to the corner to extend the lead. Morley came straight back and had their best spell, poor discipline by Heath and strong running saw the visitors take the lead with two quick fire tries and a conversion.

Watson had to leave the field after a great stint at prop. Man of the match Barnes replaced him at prop and took the game to Morley with some monstrous defence. Alex Taylor added pace and enthusiasm to the wing, replacing the impressive Gianotti. After some good kicks by Scrimshaw and Rowntree, Heath had to be patient as they searched for the winning try. Mark Puttick and Hall carried well and the Heath pack forced errors in contact. On one such occasion, the home side had a scrum 10 metres out. Ward controlled superbly at the back before picking and touching down for the decisive score.

With 5 minutes remaining, Rhys Wadsworth replaced Emlyn James who had done an extended shift in the pack, working tirelessly for the cause. After a couple of scares, Morley couldn’t break Heaths resolute defence and Rowntree cleared the ball to end the game.

This was a fully deserved win, on the day and also for the effort and resilience shown over the last few games. This team will kick on after Christmas and will move up the league after our first win. The combination of youth and experience is a joy to watch and the performances have been improving weekly. Well done men UTH