Heath's U17's Take the Spoils in Tight Contest!!!

After a disappointing display which culminated in a defeat against Scarborough, Heath had to pick themselves up and look to put points on the board against their next opponents, Yarnbury. On the only previous meeting between the teams, last season, Yarnbury came out the winners. This time round, points where at stake rather than just pride. Yarnbury kicked off Heath’s second home game of the season, and for the first fifteen minutes both teams looked to expose weaknesses in their opponents. Unfortunately Heath lost their full back, Tom Berridge, to injury within minutes of the kick off putting added pressure on them. Luckily, Sam Sharp proved a capable replacement and earned backs man of the match for his efforts. Heath had the first opportunity to produce points as they won a penalty just inside Yarnbury’s 22. Unfortunately, the ball was kicked just left of the sticks. Heath’s forwards started to dominate dead ball situations, this allowed the backs space and clean ball to use in their opponents half. After a short period, this paid dividends as Heath’s inside centre, Kyle Tetley, ran the ball into the corner to put Heath’s first points on the board (5-0, unconverted try). Against the run of play, Yarnbury capitalised on a lapse of concentration by Heath and carried the ball from the half way line down their left flank to score their first try (5-5, unconverted try). Shortly after, Heath’s forwards drove their way up the field and forced yet another penalty in the opposition 22. Due to the fact the penalty was more central than the previous, Jacob Holmes, Heath’s fly half, was able to add three more points to Heath’s tally. (8-5, penalty conversion). With the half time whistle looming, Heath had to get a points cushion from somewhere to take into the break. They did this by setting up a ruck in the left hand corner of the oppositions half and spreading the ball out through a series of offloads and passes which allowed Heath’s outside centre, Callum Harriott-Brown, to receive the ball and power over the line just under the posts. (15-5, conversion by Jacob Holmes). The half time whistle blew and Heath where clearly the happier team at the break. The second half began with Heath taking the kick off, and Yarnbury where obviously the most motivated team from the break as they put pressure on Heath straight away. This pressure was eventually turned into points very soon afterwards as they scored their second try of the game. (15-12, converted try). For most of the second half the game was tightly contested and no one seemed to know how to put more points on the board, Heath where also giving penalties away which put them on the back foot for periods and made it hard for them to get into Yarnbury’s half, this is why Heath’s 3rd try came as a surprise when Joe Holdsworth scored in the left hand corner after a brilliant passage of play by the whole team. (20-12, unconverted try). Unsurprisingly Yarnbury scored another, as they had done twice before, after Heath’s Tries. 20-17, unconverted try). The game was now very closely contested, on the field and on the score board and Heath had to find points from somewhere to win the game comfortably. Yet again, they did just that. Forwards man of the match Jack Bruce was unlucky to not to score but, almost immediately afterwards , the try started as a well set up ruck in Yarnbury’s 22 and went through a couple of pairs of hands ending up over the line thanks to Heath captain, Max Netherwood. (25-17, unconverted try). Heath where now in a comfortable position, and could afford to take more risks, these risks paid off as they scored their last try of the game from a great kick, fancy footwork and characteristic speed from Callum Harriott-Brown who scored under the posts from the half way line. 30-17, unconverted try). The game remained the same for the rest of the match and the final whistle blew to relief of Heath players and spectators alike. This was a good win for Heath and also well deserved; a huge improvement from the last game, but if they want to be serious in winning the league title comfortably, they must improve the consistency of their performances.