Heath Show Just What They Can Do.

Heath welcomed East Coast rivals Bridlington to West Vale for this eagerly awaited clash, as they looked to avenge their narrow defeat at the seaside earlier in the season. Karl Craven had work commitments and so Ezra Hinchliffe moved to centre and Richard Armstrong came in on the wing. Jeff Jones took the number 8 shirt, allowing Dave Montgomery to revert to wing forward. Brid kicked off but it was Heath who made the first inroads into play, with Jamie Watson and Richard Cole making an immediate impact when they released Ben MITCHELL to go over for a try after 3 minutes. He missed the conversion but Heath led 5 – 0. Brid hit back straight away and Pollard at fullback was adjudged not to have taken the ball dead, resulting in a 5-metre scrum to the visitors. Great defensive work from Mitchell and Chris Moore prevented a score and Heath cleared their lines. The Heath pack was in charge and, from a scrum near halfway; Ian DOWNSBOROUGH received the ball and ran fully 40 metres to touch down, after selling the most outrageous dummy. The conversion was missed but on 10 minutes the score moved on to 10 – 0 in Heath’s favour. It was thrilling to watch an animated performance, from the Heath team, which appeared to have re-captured the power and enthusiasm that had marked the first half of the season. Jamie Watson and Olly Cooke produced surging runs putting Brid on the back foot and winning a penalty after 12 minutes. This time MITCHELL was on target: 13 – 0. For the next 10 minutes, Brid pressured Heath. Hinchliffe’s clearance eventually relieved Heath’s defence but they were caught offside after 25 minutes and STIRK converted the penalty to get Brid on the scoreboard: 13 – 3. Heath’s game-plan was working well, regularly putting Brid under pressure with a combination of storming runs and well-placed high kicks. They were awarded a free kick and when Brid “chatted back” to the referee, twice, the penalty became an easy one for MITCHELL. This put Heath ahead: 16 – 3 after 35 minutes. Great work from Mark Puttick and Watson got Charlie Lomas away but he was held up, over the line. Heath were playing a good, controlled, game and Brid were unsure what had hit them. Heath began the second half as they had the first, with a try after 2 minutes. Downsborough won the ball from a lineout. Olly Wilby and Dave Montgomery took it on and from second phase Chris MOORE was driven over the try-line. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but Heath had a convincing lead at 21 – 3. Brid hit back but, once again, Watson, Puttick, Moore, Cook and Downsborough stood their ground and with Wilby, Montgomery and the ball-stealing Jeff Jones aiding the defence, Heath were on top. Brid kept attacking but there was no way through. When Downsborough was sin-binned, on 60 minutes, for not rolling away, the visitors elected to run the ball. Their pressure eventually paid off and STIRK ran in at the corner, to score virtually unopposed. The try wasn’t converted: 21 – 8. Pollard was injured launching an attack and he was replaced by Tom Collinge. Heath were now absorbing pressure, but Moore and Watson battled well, subduing their opposite numbers and Cole kicked forward. There followed a chase and pick up by Hinchliffe. He put in a delightful kick, with the outside of his boot, for wing, Richard ARMSTRONG, to collect and score under the posts. MITCHELL converted and Heath were comfortably leading, 28 – 8 after 65 minutes and with a bonus point for 4 tries already in the bag. The game became somewhat disjointed as both sides lost discipline and when Brid took a penalty quickly, fullback Zondo went over for a converted try on 78 minutes to reduce the deficit: 28 – 15. Heath bounced back and Brid had to defend. A good run out of defence from Baxendale was stopped by the last line of Brid defence, 20m short. This turned out to be the last play, as the referee blew for full time. Heath can reflect on a good all-round team performance for a well-deserved home win.