Heath RUFC Halifax

15.10.17

A wonderful autumn day saw the No.2 pitch basking in sunshine as the Heath Under 15’s hosted North Ribblesdale.

Heath kicked off towards the No.1 pitch. The visitors were quickly under pressure in their own 22 when a big tackle from Ben Kershaw forced a turnover and saw No.8 Isaac Shaw storm towards the line. The forward pack secured possession for the backs to quickly send out to Dillon Hilton who went over to the right of the posts after only two minutes. Captain Ben Gianotti added the extra two points to take Heath out to an early seven point lead.

With the visitors kick off not reaching 10m North Ribbs won the restart forcing another big tackle from Ben Kershaw, with Jack Mollet also chipping in defensively. Winning a penalty inside the Heath half the visitors ran the ball straight into Isaac Shaw who made the tackle of the match. From the turnover runs through the middle from loosie Saul Marson and Hooker Nathan Baldwyn forced the visitors back into their own half.

Another penalty to North Ribbs after 7 minutes was run wide and an excellent tackle into touch was made by Adam Ayub.

A period of changes in possession and territory followed by a North Ribbs tactical kick into the Heath 22 saw the visitors’ turnover possession in the Heath 22 but knock on. From the scrum Halfback George Barton went blind, sent the ball to Owen Simpson who kicked in behind the visitors’ backline for Adam Ayub to chase. The pressure led to a turnover for Heath from which Isaac Shaw went over 10 metres inside the left hand flag for Heath to lead 12-0 after 11 minutes.

From the kick off Heath began to work back into the North Ribbs half and with an excellent Ben Gianotti kick to the corner putting more pressure on the visitors. North Ribbs won the resulting lineout but quickly lost the ball to the home side. Andrew Coates then came on for Isaac Shaw making an immediate impact at loose forward with Saul Marson moving to No.8. North Ribbs were starting to win the scrums and won a vital scrum against the feed kicking the ball back towards the Heath half where it was collected by Sam McIntyre who ran back down the centre of the park. With the Heath pack retaining possession in the loose Ed Vickers soon crossed the line for Heath to lead 17-0 at 19 minutes.

The visitors won the kickoff but a knock on the 22 saw Heath regain possession. A lineout just inside the Heath half saw Nathan Baldwyn coming off the back of a forward drive. The forwards recycled quick ball to Lewis Dow who set off on a storming run from halfway only to be brought down feet from the visitors try line. A penalty to the visitors saw them push back towards the Heath half where Fullback Owen Simpson linked with Ben Gianotti and Andrew Coates to surged back into the visitors 22 leading to a try by Centre Max Rowntree just before halftime. Heath lead 22-0.

Substitutes and positional changes were made at halftime by coach Jordan Bradbrook bringing on Finlay Verry, Fred Drake, Jake Tyson and Seb Wood-Ives into Blind Side Flanker, 2nd Row, and Wings respectively. Isaac Shaw returned to the field at Prop and Owen Simpson moved forward to Halfback.

North Ribbs kicked off the second half and an early penalty to Heath was kicked to touch for position. From the lineout the forwards drove up the field before Owen Simpson set the backs in motion with a switch between Dillon Hilton and Max Rowntree leading to Max Rowntree scoring after only two minutes into the second half. From the kick off an Isaac Shaw drive through the middle led to Lewis Dow receiving the ball on the 10m mark and out pacing the defence to score near the left hand flag for Heath to lead 32-0 after 33 minutes.

With the kick off not going 10m, North Ribbs received a penalty after the scrum and kicked to touch near the Heath 22. Good defensive work from Sam McIntyre returned possession to the home side who worked their way up to the visitors 22. North Ribb won a penalty and failed to make touch kicking directly to Jake Tyson who scored in the corner.

The Heath forwards were gaining confidence, especially in the loose providing good ball for the backs to use. A Ben Gianotti run from near the halfway line was only halted by a desperate tackle from the visitors defence but shortly after Nathan Baldwyn went over near the corner after an excellent driving maul – a great forwards try. With the conversion missed Heath led 42-0.

There was time for one more try from George Barton who had returned to the field in the threequarters, 47-0.

Heath saw out the remaining 3 minutes defending close to their line as North Ribbs never gave up and went searching for their first points. Despite the pressure the Heath defence held until the final whistle.

An excellent and committed display from Heath, building on the good work from last week. Their defence was organised and speed off the defensive line was responsible for closing down the opposition 10 and 12. Commitment in the tackle was shown across the park as well as an appetite for the physicality required to compete, and to look after and support their team mates.

In attack the ball was used well, in hand and off the boot, with good decisions made.

Man of the Match: Lewis Dow

Result:

Heath 47 – 0 North Ribblesdale

Starting XV

1 Ben Kershaw

2 Nathan Baldwyn (T)

3 Jack Mollet

4 Toby Laurie

5 Lewis Dow (T)

6 Ed Vickers (T)

7 Saul Marson