Slow Start Loses Game

Heath travelled to the East Coast to take on Yorkshire One rivals, Bridlington, in the first round of the Yorkshire Shield. They were looking to make progress in what is an important season for the club, coaches and players. Coach Dave Harrison introduced several new faces after a summer of recruitment. At fullback, Heath welcomed recently-arrived New Zealander, Jordan Bradbrook; also a new centre partnership of Lewis Barrett who played for Aireborough last season and Sam Gill who was with York. In the pack, Chris Moore returned as prop after a stint with Huddersfield YMCA and Tom Baxter came in at hooker after stints with Ilkley and Huddersfield in recent seasons. Brid kicked off and Heath made mistakes from the outset. These were capitalized on by the home side who were awarded a penalty after 3 minutes. It was converted by Mellonby: 3 – 0. Heath struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game and conceded another penalty on 8 mins. This time, Mellonby missed but he made no mistake 2 minutes later with his 3rd attempt: 6 – 0. From the restart, a Brid mistake and subsequent scrum allowed Heath to mount their first real attack with Callum Harriott-Brown, Matt Beasty and Chris Moore surging forward, urged on by Dominic Walsh and Ezra Hinchliffe. Heath were beginning to find their feet but Brid were holding firm at the 20-minute point. However, on 23 mins a penalty for Brid put them on the attack and they managed to score in the corner. The conversion was missed: 11 – 0. On 30 mins, a superb run from the Brid fly-half, Welch, left Heath standing as he scored under the posts. Mellonby converted and Heath were 18 – 0 down. Heath came back from the restart and Ezra Hinchliffe put them on the score sheet on 32 mins: 18 – 3. Half time approached and the visitors were under pressure again with Welch dictating play through clever kicking. A break from Harriett-Brown relieved the situation. An injury to Gill brought Eddie Cartwright on to the field and he took over the fullback position with Bradbrook moving up into the centre. Hinchliffe added a penalty on half-time, keeping Heath in the game at 18 – 6. After tactical advice from Coach Harrison, Heath began the second half on the attack and a great break from Cartwright injected pace into the Heath game, almost producing a try on 42 mins. Cartwright was in the thick of it again with a powerful kick into touch to set up Heath’s next attack. Constant pressure forced Brid to give away a penalty on 48 mins and Hinchliffe’s conversion made it 18 – 9. When flanker Martyn Barnes was injured, Olly Wilby entered the fray. Great interplay between Hinchliffe, Si Brown and Barrett resulted in Brown going over for an excellent try which Hinchliffe converted: 18 – 16 on 54 mins. Heath seemed to have taken the game by the scruff of the neck but against the run of play, in Brid’s first attack of the half, Welch skipped through again to score under the posts. Mellonby converted and it was 25 – 16 on 57 mins. Heath now needed to press home their current advantage, with Josh White looking strong and Hinchliffe influencing the game. A scrum 5 metres from the Brid line had the home team under the cosh and when debutant Bradbrook touched down it looked like a certain try but the referee adjudged a pass to have been forward. Chris Piper and Alex McFadden pressed and Heath were awarded another penalty but this time Hinchliffe was just wide with his attempt. Brid came back strongly as the game ebbed and flowed. With 10 mins left, Heath were defending and gave away a penalty which Mellonby used to increase the Brid lead to 28 – 19. His side continued to press and their 2nd Row, Cookson, went over for an unconverted try as full time approached: 33 – 19. Heath never stopped working hard and Cartwright went over in the corner for a final hoorah: 33 – 24. This was an entertaining game which Heath could have won. After conceding too many penalties in the first half a much-improved performance in the second half from the visitors gave hope for next week’s first league game – a visit to much-fancied York.