Heath scrape home in Must Win game.

This was a ‘must-win’ game for both teams so it promised to be an interesting afternoon. From the start, Heath were under pressure from Keighley but they withstood the barrage and Ezra Hinchliffe cleared well. However, Keighley re-grouped and began attacking again. Heath were pinned in their own half. In defence, Ryan Hunter made a good tackle and won lineout ball for Heath to mount their first real attack, on 8 minutes. Soon after, Hunter, Peter Birkett, Hinchliffe and Darren Neilly combined well as Heath finally managed to keep the ball in hand. Newcomer Duncan Edwards at prop was in the thick of things and RobThackray with Ewan Miller made good tackles as Keighley mounted yet another attack on 13 mins. Then followed a series of kicks straight into touch by Keighley, allowing Heath to put together some moves; a miss pass from Hinchliffe set Si Brown, on for Zak Dewhurst, off on a good run, with Chris Moore up in support. Then a kick from Thackray found touch and the springboard for a Heath attack. Hinchliffe opened the way for Mark Puttick but the captain was held inches short of the try-line. Moore was up in support and ready to score a try but he was pulled up for Hamish Pratt ‘crossing’, on 22 mins. With Heath ramping up the pressure, Stephen Hare and Cameron Ramsden timed passes beautifully to scythe through, enabling Thackeray to score an excellent try under the posts which Hinchliffe converted to put Heath ahead at 7 – 0. Puttick, Brown and Thackray attacked again, followed by Edwards, Brown and Hunter, then Hinchliffe, Neilly and Hare before Ramsden linked with Josh Lister for him to score Heath’s second try within 4 mins. The conversion was missed, but Heath led 12 – 0. Soon after, on the half hour, Hinchliffe’s penalty moved Heath to 15 – 0 and put them very much in control after weathering the early storm. As half time approached, a last-ditch tackle by Hare prevented a Keighley score and Hinchliffe managed to secure the ball and find touch. This had been a very good effort from Heath with two excellent tries and some stalwart defence. Olly Cook replaced Edwards at prop for the second half. Heath started the second half well but Puttick was floored by an off-the-ball tackle on 44 mins. The visitors threw the ball about for Brown to go over in the corner, convert his try and put Keighley back in the game at 15 – 7 on 48 mins. Dominic Walsh replaced Birkett on 55 mins and Zac Dewhirst took Si Brown’s place. Dewhirst made an immediate impact, picking up a loose ball to release Miller as the pace of the game stepped up. On the hour, Danny McGee made a break from fullback for Keighley but Hare made a crucial interception and Keighley gave away a penalty. Then Keighley’s strong-running wing, Sam Walker, intercepted and he was halted but a further intervention from Dewhirst resulted in the latter being sin-binned. Brown converted the penalty for Keighley to pull the score back to 15 – 10. Heath came back on the attack and Keighley were found off-side on 65 mins, Hinchliffe finding touch near the corner. Heath threw the ball about and were awarded a penalty in front of the posts for Hinchliffe to extend the lead to 18 – 10 on 67 mins. Keighley’s Brown was sin-binned and Heath’s Josh Lister went off injured, with Si Brown substituting. Then Dewhirst was back into the fray, joining in a period of intense play by both sides, during which pressure was at times brutal. When a high tackle was penalised, Hinchliffe found touch deep in Keighley’s half on 75 mins. Heath kept the ball in hand, sustaining the pressure on Keighley as the clock ran down. The visitors eventually broke the dead-lock with a last-ditch, unconverted try by McGee to garner a losing bonus point for Keighley with a final score of 18 – 15 to Heath. The league positions remain unchanged but the gap between Heath and possible relegation has widened.