A bit more savvy needed next time.

Heath 3rds entertained a side of whom nothing was known prior to the kickoff at West Vale. However, it wasn't long before the home side realised the game was going to be a tough one. Physical prowess was not the issue but simply the pace at which they were allowed to dictate the game be played at. Heath's usual resilience and control in the early phases of the game were nowhere to be seen as the medics ran up a 10-0 lead in as many minutes. The early woes were compounded by Bash having to leave the field in order to fill a slot on the first team, causing Gaz Crawshaw to enter the fray at outside centre. At the restart, the medics' overconfidence began to show and a sloppy passage of play in their own half lead to Mark 'Chihuahua' Metcalfe stealing an opportunist try as he pressured the posturing full back into dropping his compact mirror, and the ball to boot, over his own line. Metcalfe being considerably closer to the ground than his adversary was the quicker to fall on it and Heath were back in the game, if only for a very brief period of time. 10-5 Heath fell back in to their own territory for the kick off and yet another classic moment of comedy genious followed. A towering kick restarted the game and the ball spiralled high and long towards the hapless John Lyons, stood on the Heath try line behind a pack all pretending not to be able to see the pig skin as it floated for an age over their heads. Lyons gulped as the grim realisation dawned that it was now too late for him to get out of the way and he would be forced into trying to collect the ball on the full. The sight of numerous medics rushing towards him cannot have helped the Lyons' concentration but the decision to commence break dancing at that precise moment was ill conceived. The ball hit numerous body parts during the dance-off before popping up nicely off a nape, heel, arse combo into the arms of an onrushing attacker to score under the posts. The conversion made it 5-17. Heath attempted to counter with some excellent hard running, but the temptation to try and bust through one too many tackles meant that numerous bursts concluded with the ball being lost in the ensuing ruck, as the fitter medics arrived at the break down quicker than the Heath attackers. One such attempt saw Dan Ingham taking the ball on into the medics 22, before being held up just short, as he turned to look for support he was swamped by several defenders who ripped the ball free before hacking the length of the field. The Heath cover was unable to cope with the speed of the Medic chasing backs and another unchallenged touch down with the inevitable conversion made it 5-24. The Heath players were completely deflated and heads were going down as they struggled to impose themselves in any area of the game. Dan Ingham restarted the game with a pinpoint kick inches over the 10 yard line and tight to the touch, a dream kick off for a marauding forward to run onto either collecting the ball at full tilt or reducing the catcher to splinters. However, not a single chaser followed it the required 10 yards and the medics were the ones to see the value of the kick as they ran through almost to the tryline. The progress was momentarily halted but the score was enevitable and was again improved by the conversion to 5-31. Surely things could not get any worse...could they? I beg to differ, one final awful passage of play before the half time whistle to make the score 5-36. Clearly the medics had the pace and quality required to beat the mature Heath side but what was very unusual about the performance in the first half was the fact that Heath failed to readjust and alter the game patten to suit their less mobile but physically stronger pack. Harsh words during the break called for exactly that and for the lads to reassert themselves in all areas of the pitch. The second half began badly with the medics backs and forwads combining well to enable the slippery full back to round the Heath line and score wide out. 5-41. Richard Dance was then introduced to the game, a welcome return after a nasty injury earlier in the season and his ability and application injected a much needed boost. Heath began to fair better in the lineouts and the forwards' began to rumble towards the opposition line. Medics were forced to infringe and smart thinking at the penalty saw a quick tap taken down the short side where the ball was popped to Ollie Cook to plough over for a try wideout. Dan Ingham kicked a terrific conversion from tight to the touch and spirits were raised. 12-41. Medics were far from finished, though, as they quickly replied with another fine try out wide as the still pacey backs proved too hot to handle.12-46. Tired legs were replaced by fresh and Heath knuckled down to what should have been 20 minutes hard graft. The driving game which should have been employed from the very first minute started to come together and the hard yards were earned with well executed rucks and mauls. Dance caught well in the lineouts and the Heath pack nudged ever closer to the posts. One final lineout 10 yards out saw Dance collect and the pack drive him on before he released the ball with great awareness to Ollie Cook who was unstoppable from 5 yards. again the try was improved with another great kick by Ingham from wide out. Inexplicably, the match official drew the action to a close a good ten minutes short of full time with no injuries or tempers fraying and the scoring ended at 19-46. The next fixture against Keighley will be equally tough but and Heath will have to a bit more savvy