Another fine win for the 2nds.

Heath 2nds. Heath kicked off their home Merit Table game against West Park Leeds in warm and sunny conditions knowing that a good performance would be required if they were to inflict the first defeat of the season on their opponents. The home side started in a determined and confident manner and although an early penalty was missed, Oliver COOK converted a penalty after 8 minutes to make the score 3-0. West Park Leeds then converted a penalty in the 14th minute to level the score at 3-3. The home side continued to impress and got their reward in the 18th minute when, from a lineout in their own half , the forwards caught and drove the ball some 30 yards upfield at pace. This put the opponents on the back foot and scrum half, Tom COLLINGE, making his Heath debut, released the backs, the ball being passed down the line to David CRAIGIE who made ground before offloading to fellow centre, John HAMPSHIRE who was strong enough to get the ball over the line in the tackle for an excellent team try. The conversion was missed but 8-3 was a fair reflection of the game thus far. In the 21st minute, pressure was put on the opponents winger and full back, the latter losing possession in the tackle allowing right wing, Matty BAXENDALE to pick up the loose ball and sprint under the posts to maintain his “try a game” record. The try was converted by Oliver COOK to give Heath a 15-3 lead. The home pack was now rampant and the backs were being provided with a lot of good quality possession allowing them to run the ball at their opponents with confidence. Their dominance culminated in a try to outside half, Martin SHAW, who took the ball some 10 yards out and, as last week, used his strength to burst through 2-3 tackles before grounding the ball. The try was converted again by Oliver COOK giving a scoreline of 22-3 after 28 minutes. Oliver COOK then converted a penalty to give the home side a well deserved 25-3 half time lead. The opponents lifted their game in the second half and were rewarded with an unconverted try by their left winger after 54 minutes making the score 25-8. However, the home side did not let this affect them and they immediately regained control of the game allowing Oliver COOK to convert a penalty in the 60th minute to increase the home side lead to 28-8 which was to be the final score. This was an excellent all round performance by the Heath team who showed commitment and determination throughout the game. The 2nd xv have now won their last 3 matches and, on this showing, can now look forward with confidence to their next game away at Barnsley next Saturday. Man of the match awards went to Oliver WILBY in the forwards and Martin SHAW in the backs.