Heath RUFC Halifax

On the No.2 pitch in front of the clubhouse Heath kicked off against Selby in the first round of the Yorkshire Plate. With a slight wind behind them, Heath were quickly on the back foot as Selby showing good ball retention ran the ball at every opportunity putting the Heath defence under pressure from the start. Despite spirited tackling across the park the visitors moved out to a 5 -0 lead after only three minutes.

Heath regrouped and from the kick off possession and territory shifted back and forth with the home side showing their attacking intent. Strong runs into the opposition 22 from Isaac Shaw and Saul Marson and excellent work in defence from the back three of Adam Ayub, Seb Wood-Ives and Harry Stevens set the tone for the day. Eventually the visitors broke down the defence through the middle to lead 12-0 after 13 minutes.

Again Heath came out strong and following a good run out of defence from Harry Stevens the home side won a penalties just inside the Selby half which Ben Gianotti kicked to touch 10 metres out from the visitors try line. A lineout move straight from the training ground saw Isaac Shaw crash over near the corner to put Heath on the board and trailing 12-5 with eight minutes of the first half remaining.

Selby came back after the kick off but not to be outdone Heath struck back with a Max Rowntree score in the right-hand corner to take the score to 17-10 at half time.

Substitutions by coach Jordan Bradbrook just before and at half time saw Alfie Connors Owen Simpson and Jack Lumb on for Saul Marson, George Barton and Seb Wood-Ives with Jack Lumb slotting into 2nd five eighth.

Selby again came out of the blocks after half time and two quick tries sent them out to a 29-10 lead. Heath weren’t finished, Harry Stevens retrieving one of the visitors many kicks deep into Heath territory and combining with Adam Ayub and Max Rowntree to push back into the visitor’s half to keep the pressure back on the visitors. More replacements with Finlay Verry into Lock and Jake Tyson onto the Wing for Jack Mollet and Adam Ayub provided fresh legs for the home side.

The Heath forwards were working hard confronting with a well organised Selby pack to give the backs good ball when going forward and were soon rewarded when Jack Lumb swooped on a loose ball inside the Heath 22 and outpaced the Selby defence to score under the posts for a fine individual try. As Ben Gianotti converted Heath made their last replacement with Kalob Williams coming on to the Wing.

From the kick off Heath received a penalty at the breakdown which was quickly ran by halfback Owen Simpson linking up with Jake Tyson who was bundled into touch just outside the visitors 22. Heath quickly secured possession after the lineout and the ball was spun wide for Max Rowntree to go over for his second try of the match.

With the deficit reduced to 7 with 12 minutes remaining Heath now had the momentum and were working hard across the park in both defence and attack. An excellent tackle by Kalob Williams halted a promising Selby attack but a series of penalties allowed the visitors to work their way up into the Heath 22. Heath kept working hard and pushing back towards the visitor’s half but just when some good space was found out wide an intercept try by the Selby 2nd Five Eighth extended the gap to 14 points with 4 minutes to play.

Selby had time for one more score to take the final score to 41-22.

In the post-match Man of the Match presentation coach Jordan Bradbrook told the boys that in the year and a half that he has been coaching them that was by far the best performance to date and they should be proud of that.

Man of the Match:

Harry Stevens

Result:

Heath 22 - 41 Selby

Starting XV

1 Ed Vickers

2 Ben Kershaw

3 Jack Mollet

4 Toby Laurie

5 Lewis Dow

6 Saul Marson

7 Sam McIntyre