2nds finish season on a high

1. Whitworth  6. Ward      11   Greenwood

2. Puttick  7. Wilkinson  12 Bruce

3. Morley 8.  Shipman13 Beever

4. James   9. Cole 14 Hinchcliffe

5. Milner    10 Malik   15 Cockroft

Replacements

Thornton,Richardson,Burbidge

In their final game of the season, and sitting 2nd placed in the league, Heath 2nds welcomed Huddersfield YMCA to West Vale. With the 1sts having secured a comfortable victory on Friday evening, there was a larger than normal crowd watching on a very sunny and clear afternoon. YM fielded a noticeably stronger side than that presented earlier in the corresponding away fixture. Heath kicked off and were immediately on the attack, a neat inside ball from Malik found Whitworth who outpaced his covering opposite number to cross for the opening score, Cole could not add the extras. 5-0

YM came back strong and for the next 15 minutes pinned Heath back in their 22, eventually the pressure told, and they scored quickly in succession, once through forward drives and the 2nd  down the wing, through their large outside centre both chances were converted 5-14. Heath looked a little shell-shocked due to the quick turnaround in fortunes.  Regrouping, Heath came back into the game, great tackling in defence from the pack forced YM into some pressurised offloading, when one of these went to ground, Bruce pounced, collecting the loose pass he ran through sidestepping the full back to score under the posts, Cole took the extras 12-14

YM did not fold and attacked back into the Heath half, when their scrum half saw a space behind, he chipped forward, and the ball was collected to move them further ahead again 12-21. 

They stormed forward from the restart and Heath were hanging on, a great tackle from Wilkinson, regained possession and Cockroft punted forward for the chasing Greenwood, but he was unlucky to knock on in contact. Heaths scrum was strong and pushing back on every set piece, although YM maintained possession, they could not get quality ball into their backline. Ward forced another knock on and from the scrum Greenwood was released for a mazy run to score another converted try, with Cole adding extras 19-21.

Play was see sawing backwards and forwards with some hard defence from both sides, neither of which could make ground, the official blew for half time and a well-earned break.

HT 19-21

Heath looked to have plenty of energy in the tank and the YM pack looked to be a little leggy. Collecting the restart Heath pushed forward, great kicking by Cole moved them up to the 22 and Shipman was proving a headache in the lineouts, taking several against the throw. Wilkinson was next to storm through and whilst the majority of the crowd and players celebrated his try, the official asked for the opinion of the touch official who ruled the ball had been bounced on touchdown. Heath powered into the scrum and forced another quick offload, Beever robbed another loose pass and crossed to give Cole an easy conversion. 26-21.

YM were trying to get a foothold in the game, they kept moving the ball through pack drives whilst not bringing their back line, who had done damage in the first half , into the game. Heaths defence was immense with Morley, playing his final game and Milner tackling hard. Puttick suffering from a shoulder injury was a constant pain at the breakdown, and YM tempers were starting to fray. Heath were also guilty of several moments of back chat to the official, giving away extra yardage at penalties.  Cole executed another long clearance for a lineout, and Shipman stole again, rushing through he released Bruce for another storming run, when he was felled by a last ditch tackle the forwards were there again to recycle and release Beever, his pass failed to go straight to Cockcroft’s hands but the ball bounced kindly and he collected and stepped inside his man to cross, Cole could not add the extras 31-21.

Even though there was a 10-point gap, the game was not over. YM camped on the 5m line for a long period, and when a further penalty was given, Cole saw yellow for team offences. Could YM come back or Heath come back, the ball was once again stolen at the scrum and Hinchcliffe cleared with a kick executed just as he was tackled. The extra man seemed to unsettle YM more than Heath, with Cockroft moving to cover the scrum half position, Heath were winning every push, and winning a further penalty, one of the YM team became involved in an altercation with several of his own players,  further disrupting their rhythm. When he was substituted, Heath piled on pressure again and YM could not get into the Heath half. Cole re-joined the game and Heath saw out the final minutes for a great Bonus point win. As we finish our season, we still sit 2nd but with the chasing pack having games in hand.