Seconds win away.

Heath 2nds. Away to Selby. Although there were changes to the team which had an excellent win against Ripon the previous Saturday, the West Vale men entered the game in a positive and confident frame of mind. On a muggy afternoon, Heath started play, with the advantage of a slight breeze. Selby mounted early pressure but Heath then came into the game and, after 13 minutes, with the forwards gaining the upper hand, the ball was passed down the back line and centre Steve Pullan broke the defensive line to score a try near to the posts which was duly converted by Oliver Cook. Heath maintained control and it appeared to be only a matter of time before the lead was increased. Unfortunately, handling errors and wrong options prevented this. However, after sustained pressure from the forwards, the ball was released to Martin Shaw, the Heath stand off half, who used his bulky frame to crash over next to the posts. Oliver COOK failed to convert but, 12-0 after 20 minutes should have provided the steppingstone to an avalanche of points against older and slower opposition. This failed to materialise and it was Selby who got on the scoreboard after 24 minutes with a penalty kick awarded just outside the Heath 22m line, making the score 12-3. Heath began to press once again and after a loose kick from the Selby 22m area by the fullback, left winger, Rob Owen, picked up the ball and sprinted to the corner for an unconverted try, making the score 17-3 after 31 minutes. There was no more scoring before half time and Heath went into the second half knowing that they would have to lift their game. The expected increase in tempo from the Heath players did not materialise and Selby took the upper hand with the vast majority of the second half being played in the Heath half. On the positive side, the Heath defensive work was very good as it had to be under, sometimes, constant pressure. Dave Craigie replaced John Denwood in the centre and after taking a bang to the head, Oliver Cook was replaced by Mike Fox. Tom Ward then hurt his ankle and was replaced by Oliver”s dad, Tim Cook. After a number of set scrums, when the Heath pack had put the home forwards under considerable pressure, clean ball was taken and moved right just outside the home 22m line. At the break down, evergreen number 8, Mark Warrender, picked up the ball and set off towards the line. As his path became closed, he then put in a deft grubber kick to the corner where right winger , Matthew Baxendale, skilfully picked up an awkward bouncing ball to score a well made try in the corner. An excellent conversion from Martin Shaw increased the lead to 24-3 after 71 minutes. However, Heath once again allowed Selby to apply pressure on their line, which culminated in a converted try under the posts from the Selby centre - with the last play of the game. The final score was 24-10 to Heath, but it should have been a much more convincing victory for the Heath boys. The players themselves know this fact and I am sure that they will address this matter next week in the home game against West Park Leeds.