Another good display of Rugby brings a fine win.

In glorious sunshine Heath travelled along the M62 to lowly Selby looking to maintain their top four position. Following the late withdrawal of Ian Downsborough (work commitments) and Matt Baxendale, Ian Spence and Simon Brown came off the bench to be replaced on it by Tom Collinge and Martin White. Selby kicked off and Heath made two mistakes in the first 2 minutes, kicking to touch from inside the 22 after receiving the ball from outside, and giving away a penalty for offside. It wasn’t until after 10 minutes that Heath entered the Selby half but the home side quickly repelled the attack and turned the tables with a penalty kick to the corner after Heath were caught offside again. Heath withstood the pressure well and a good move from Jarrod Morris and Dave Montgomery resulted in Selby conceding a penalty on 18 minutes, from which Matthew Hallett hit the post. After this, Heath began to find their rhythm with Martin Moana, Alistair Gordon and Neil Francis linking well. On 24 minutes, Heath got the breakthrough. Charlie Lomas was beginning to find his feet at stand off as he distributed and linked well with the backs. The ball eventually got to Si Brown, who had come inside from his wing to go over and open Heath’s account. Hallett missed the conversion to leave the score at 0 – 5. Heath encamped in the Selby 22 and with 34 minutes gone Spence picked up from the scrum and looked likely to have gone over but the referee adjudged he was held up. From the resulting scrum Heath kept up the pressure and Spence went over for a try. Hallett converted and Heath led 0 – 12 on 35 minutes. Selby bounced back straight from the kick off. Winger Arthur went over in the corner after a kick through and the line judge said the ball had not gone in touch. The conversion was missed leaving the score 5 – 12. Then, with a repeat performance of a well-rehearsed move, Brown scored a try under the posts for Heath on 40 minutes and Hallett converted it, to restore Heath’s lead and give a comfortable half time score of 5 – 19. Heath kicked deep to start the second half but Selby were quickly on the attack. On 47 minutes Selby’s No 10, Barton was sin-binned as Heath struggled to contain the onslaught. The Heath pack, led by James Watson, was working hard with Montgomery and Olly Wilby putting in the tackles. On 53 minutes, Heath eventually broke the Selby grip. After running 50 metres Moana slipped at the final pass. However, with good backing up from Montgomery and Brown the ball reached Luke Clogher who was halted just short of the line. Quick play from Lomas got the ball out to Brown who linked with Gordon it popped up for Chris Moore to crash over. The try was converted by Hallett and the score now favoured the visitors 6 – 26. This great team effort earned Heath the bonus point. Heath continued to put pressure on as Selby struggled to come to terms with the visiting pack, which once again surged over the line for Spence to score his 2nd try, on 64 minutes. Hallett converted to make the score 5 – 33 in Heath’s favour. Substitutions followed, with Cook replacing Moore and Collinge on for Spence. Then came a period of even play from both sides as the clock wound down. White took Moana’s place on 77 mins. Although tamed by the Heath pack, Selby never stopped working and on the verge of full time went over for a consolation try, converted by Barton for a final score of 12 – 33. After a shaky start Heath put together a dogged performance and thoroughly deserved their win against a Selby team that had given league front-runners Malton & Norton a very close call the previous week. This consistent effort should serve them in good stead for their trip to Bridlington next week in addition to raising their league position to third.