Bonus point win moves heath into top half of table

1. Whitworth  6. Dawes      11   Hinchcliffe

2. Puttick  7. Wilby   12 Bruce

3. Morley 8.  Ward 13 Beever

4. Raby   9. Cole 14 Saltonstall

5. Milner    10 Malik   15 Storey

Replacements

Cockroft,Robinson,Baxendale,Greenwood,Richardson

For the 3rd weekend in a row Heath 2nds were at home, kicking off early before the 1sts played Pontefract. Top of the table Wharfedale, travelled to West Vale no doubt buoyed in which 2nd placed Moortown had dispatched us, the previous week. The roller-coaster that is team selection, this week presented us with another full squad and bench.

Heath kicked off in gloomy conditions, with the pitch heavy underfoot, and were immediately on the attack. Great work by Wilby and Milner secured the ball and Cole immediately fired the ball to Malik and then onto the overlapping backs. The ball found its way to Saltonstall who made no mistake crossing the line for an opening try 5-0 Cole missed the conversion just wide.

Dawes securely took the high ball , but the resulting ruck was turned over and ‘Dale went on the attack. Winning successive penalties, they eventually crossed the line to equal the scores 5-5

Heath held strong for the next 10 minutes and from a penalty yielding a 5m lineout they had another scoring chance. ‘Dale stole the ball and attacked ,great defence from Beever and Storey cleared the danger and then Wilby, with great rucking , won a penalty for not releasing. Next it was time for Puttick to make a storming run and when he just failed to make the line, he passed to the supporting Dawes, who was then felled  and a penalty resulted in yet another 5m lineout. Yet again Heath lost the ball and kicked the ball away from danger. Securing their first penalty of the day, they drove form the lineout and then Bruce executed a great tackle to force a knock on. Whitworth left the pitch to be replaced by Richardson. Heath were awarded a further penalty, but failed to capitalise, but soon after from a scrum, Heaths backs were in full flow again, Beever found Storey with a great reverse pass, and he crossed close to the uprights, allowing Cole to add the conversion 12-5

Heath were on the up and exerting further pressure from the restart, Puttick won a scrum against the head , and Storey turned provider releasing Hinchcliffe for another try that was converted by Cole 19-5 Half time was blown soon after

Storey left the pitch with Cockcroft moving into the full back role.

Heath found themselves once again within 5m, but the lineout was deemed not straight and ‘Dale cleared again but had received an injury to one of their props, and with no replacement scrums moved to uncontested.  A tactical change was made by Heath with Morley being replaced by Robinson, and Bruce moving into the pack. The rearrangement in the pack seemed to benefit ‘Dale rather than Heath and they soon recycled the ball several times to drive over and convert 19-12. The game was very much still in the balance and Richardson was replaced Baxendale and then Wilby, suffering from a leg injury was replaced by Greenwood.  Puttick was the next one to suffer injury, from a tackle he had to depart with a blood injury and Whitworth returned. With the game very much in the balance, and injury’s mounting would Heath lose a large lead again.  Pressure was mounted further when Robinson received a yellow card for a high tackle on halfway and ‘Dale could see a way forward with 10mins of superior numbers. Cockroft made them think again with a run down the wing , which eventually led to a penalty , Heath once again lost the lineout but then a knock-on gave possession back, Beever showed his pace executing a mazy run leaving several backs standing and his final pass found Cockroft who dove over. The conversion was missed 24-12

Puttick returned and Heath looked to take the game away from ‘Dale. Milner and Ward constantly ran the ball into contact, drawing the pack in, and the backs were chomping at the bit for further runs. ‘Dale kept to their task admirably, but each time Heath fought for the ball and several times the ball was secured and cleared. Robinson returned and further inroads into the ‘Dale half were made, Storey came on for Saltonstall having recovered from his knock. Dale had their final chance to add to the score, but Heath defended the lineout well , Baxendale had a great run up the line just stopped on the 22 , but soon after Bruce received the ball from Malik and he saw a gap inside and crossed to make the game safe . Cole added the extras 31-12

Soon after time was blown, and Heath had moved up to 5th in the table. With Rishworthians up next a top 4 finish must be the target