EPIC BATTLE AS HEATH SECURE MAXIMUM POINTS AGAINST RIVALS DRIFFIELD

Selection
15 Eddie Cartwright 14 Elliott Spiers 13 Joe Morrison 12 Si Brown 11 Callum Harriott-Brown 10 Chris Johnson 9 Dom Walsh 1 Paul Turner 2 Alex McFadden 3 Chris Moore 4 Matt Beasty 5 Fergus Marsden 6 Wil McLaughlin 7 Jason Merrie 8 Ben Stringer 16 Jack Bruce 17 Saif Boussaada 18 Jack Pilcher

Scorers  
Eddie Cartwright 1 try  Callum Harriott-Brown 1 try  Joe Morrison 1 try  Elliott Spiers 1 try 
 Chris Jonson 4 Con 4 pens

Report
Heath welcomed fourth placed Driffield to North Dean, looking for a win to keep the pressure on at the top of the table. Will McLaughlin was given a start in the pack and the fabled Si Brown replaced an unavailable Tom Owen. Driffield arrived in good form and as a large crowd gathered expectations were high, for an exciting game, from both sets of supporters and they were not to be disappointed.

Heath chose to play towards the river end as Driffield kicked off and early exchanges saw both teams test each other out. However, it was Heath who had made the better start and after crunching the first scrum then off a clearance from the visitors, Callum Harriott-Brown collected the ball on the half way line and set off on one of his jinking runs, evading several tackles, before releasing the supporting Eddie Cartwright - who scored a try in the corner, converted by Chris Johnson and a score of 7-0 after six minutes  This was the perfect start for Heath and their supporters.

Heath continued to pressurise the visitors defence, who were struggling to contain the onslaught, as Johnson added a penalty conversion on ten minutes. Next up surging runs from Paul Turner, Fergus Marsden and Will McLaughlin made inroads into the visitors 22 and Johnson added another penalty three minutes later and Heath led 13-0. In the onslaught Driffield had a player yellow carded which added to their woes.

Driffield down to fourteen players went in search of a score and as Heath seemed to relax they took advantage with two penalty conversions to bring the score in at 13-6 as the clock ticked  to 20 minutes. Heath needed to get back on track and, following a high tackle on Si Brown, the quick thinking Dom Walsh took a quick tap to gain valuable yards before he linked up with the supporting Eddie Cartwright and Jason Merrie, but Driffield's covering defence snubbed out any chance of a score. Heath had regained their momentum as Jack Pilcher and Saif Boussaada replaced Matt Beasty and Will McLaughlin and when Fergus Marsden soared high to claim lineout ball, Walsh and Johnson linked up to send Harriott-Brown in for a super try, converted by Johnson and Heath increased their lead to 20-6 with twenty-five minutes played.

From the re-start Driffield went in search of a score and there was some ferocious tackling as Heath barricaded their line. From a penalty, Driffield reduced the arrears, 20-9 and, as they continued to look for another score, Paul Turner received a yellow card much to the amazement of the home crowd. Heath were now put under severe pressure and Driffield managed to breech their defence scoring a converted try just before half time and a score of 20-16.

As the half time whistle sounded it was a huge relief to the Heath supporters and a half time chat was needed.

Heath began the second half with a deep kick and were rewarded as Driffield dropped the ball. From the resulting scrum Walsh fed Johnson who strode through the visitors defence before releasing Joe Morrison, to go over for a converted try in the first minute and it was the perfect start, 27-16.

It was a rejuvenated Heath team and from yet another onslaught Driffield were caught offside and Johnson converted the penalty, 30-16. Back came Driffield as they went in search of a score and once again it was a battle to keep them at bay. Following a surging run from Fergus Marsden to relieve the pressure, support from Paul Turner and Ben Stringer, the game went from end to end. Following an off the ball incident Chris Johnson received a yellow and this seemed to inspire the visitors.

Marsden made way for Matt Beasty to return as Driffield turned the screw and following an injury to Jack Pilcher McLaughlin also returned but they could do nothing to prevent Driffield scoring a converted try on sixty minutes and a score of 30-23 - with a quarter of the game remaining it could go either way.

Johnson returned to the action, with no further damage and with ten minutes left to play he stepped up to convert another penalty 33-26. Marsden returned for McLaughlin but the visitors made a charge and Heath were guilty of several errors and the visitors ran in a converted try and 33-30 with plenty of time left on the clock.

It was frantic from both sides and with the crowd on the edge of their seats it was Heath who made the final push count. Once again from a superb crossfield kick from Johnson, to find touch in the corner, the resultant line out ball was claimed by Marsden and as the forwards drove to the line, Elliott Spiers emerge with the ball for a fourth try, again converted by Johnson, 40-30 to secure the bonus point with minutes remaining.

Much to Driffield s credit they continued to battle to the end but when the final whistle sounded it was the home side who had secured the win.

This was a brilliant advert for the game which could have gone either way. The crowd were thoroughly entertained from two committed teams for the full eighty minutes. Heath took the spoils with maximum points and the result sees them retain second spot in the league with five points separating them from leaders Billingham. Next week is a rest weekend before they reach the halfway point of the season with the trip to Alnwick who sit in third. Should be another humdinger!!

Rest of today's results:  Here

League Table:  Here

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