Great Team Play and Effort Gives Alf a Huge Grin!

Heath Under 17 Colts travelled to an unbeaten Wetherby for their second league match of the season; including pre-season friendlies, the Heath squad arrived also unbeaten. This had all the potential to be an interesting and close run encounter between the two opposing sides. The spectators, filled with anticipation, where blessed with glorious sunny weather and very little breeze, near perfect conditions for fast flowing rugby. The North Yorkshire side kicked off the game and immediately knocked on from their own shallow kick which wasn't dealt with properly by the Heath pack. This set the tone for a very cagey first fifteen minutes. However, after this cautious first period, Heaths electric winger, Liam Sykes, broke the deadlock by running the ball over the white wash down the left flank after a very well drilled passing interchange by Heath’s backs, for an unconverted try. Sykes then made it 0-10 shortly after the first try in a similar fashion for a second unconverted try. The North Dean side seemed to ease off the gas a little as they felt that they had a comfortable lead over their opponents, but their complacency and mistakes were punished as Wetherby drove their way, through the forwards, over the try line on the right hand side of the posts, taking a hard fought converted try. The half time whistle blew and the rival teams went into the interval with very little to show between them on the score sheet. At this stage, the result could have gone either way. Heath kicked off the second half against a resurgent Wetherby team who had obviously been spurred on by their late first half try; coupled with changes in the home teams pack putting added pressure onto Heath’s forwards as they had no replacements to call upon. This caused problems for Heath at set pieces. All this added up to create a second half that was there for the taking - by either team. After 10 minutes of well fought rucks and mauls, Wetherby won the ball in Heath’s half from a scrum and worked their way over the try line taking a 12-10 lead. Straight after the kick off Heath’s pack found added energy to turn the ball over just inside Wetherby’s territory and set a platform for the backs to work an opportunity that ended up being scored directly under the posts by Heath’s number thirteen, Callum Harriott-Brown. The try was typical of the player, as he weaved his way round four of Wetherby's backs. This made the scoreline 12-17 to Heath as, fly half, Jacob Holmes added the conversion. Liam Sykes then scored his third of the game, which rounded off a well taken hat-trick. The score line was now, at a once again comfortable, 12-22 to Heath. Wetherby never seemed to lose spirit though, as they added their third try (unconverted) quite late into the second half, but it was just too late, as the away side held the score all the way to the final whistle to take all possible points. The score ended at 17-22 and it was obvious to everyone that Heath coach Alf Baxter was pleased with the result as he sported a huge grin on his face after the game… Although the game could have gone to either side, Heath’s team performance was something to be admired as they fought for a well earned win against their promotion rivals. Liam Sykes and Michael Reynolds got joint man of the match, as Liam scored a well finished hat-trick and Michael showed a display of great enthusiasm, skill and understanding of the game that helped Heath get the win. Heath scorers Liam Sykes 1st, 2nd and 4th try Callum Harriott-Brown 3rd try Jacob Holmes converted 3rd try Man of the match shared by Liam Sykes (hat trick of tries) and Michael Reynolds (excellent play at scrum half). Scoreline 0-5, 0-10, 7-10, half-time, 12-10, 12-17, 12-22, 17-22