Heath Triumph in 9 Try Blitz.

Try scorers: 
Wilkinson 3
Griffiths 1  
Heron 1
Reynolds 1
Greenwood 2 
Thornton 1 
 
Penalty:
Reynolds 1
 
Conversions: 
Reynolds 1

Cole 1
Thornton 2

 
1. Whitworth  6. Wilkinson      11   Hinchcliffe
2. Heron  7. Dawes   12 Greenwood
3. Warne 8.  Shipman 13 Bruce
4. James   9. Reynolds 14 Gill
5. Ward    10 Cole   15 Cockroft

Replacements
Malik,Griffiths,Thornton,Milner,Beever

                       .  

With the new season upon us the 2nds travelled to Selby, who the previous week had put 40 odd points past a usually strong Bradford and Bingley team, so a challenge awaited. Arriving in balmy late summer conditions , Selby’s large and expansive pitch was in great condition and a large crowd were in evidence. 

Heath were in confident mood after a recent draw against neighbours Halifax, and we had several debutants and a full set of replacements. Mark Puttick , who had been ruled out through injury was there to marshal the troops with Richard Cole, and resplendent in their new kit, Heath received the kick-off. 

Heaths pack were in early ascendancy, executing an early driving maul taking then into the Selby 22. When Selby recovered the ball , they tried to kick clear to relieve the pressure, but an excellent charge down from new prop Heron, pushed them further back. Winning a scrum 10 metres out the ball made its way back to Heron supported by James,  who crashed over for his debut try which Cole converted 0-7

Selby came straight back and although great defence prevented them crossing the line , they were awarded a penalty in front of the post and chose to secure the 3 . 3-7. They were soon back in Heaths half, using their speedy back line to create space on the left and only a try saving tackle from Reynolds prevented them taking the lead, Cockroft kicked clear. Heath won a penalty in next phase , they secured the lineout and again forced a transgression, this time for offside. Losing the resultant lineout due to not straight, they forced a freekick from the scrum and then a further penalty. Driving from the penalty , they were unstoppable, and Wilkinson came up with the ball after the try.  Cole was unable to add the extras from a difficult angle 3-12

The restart was collected by Heath and cleared to halfway, Heath won the lineout and Reynolds made a break before releasing the excellent Greenwood , enjoying his role in the centre, to score out wide . The conversion was missed 3-17

Selby were not giving up, a great break by their backs saw Heath miss several tackles in midfield but Cockroft hauled the player down short of the try line , they then won a penalty from the resulting play for a high tackle but Heath defended the lineout well and cleared to half way with the clock running down. 

Half time 

Selby 3 Heath 17

As the players took on well deserved refreshments several changes were made

Malik replaced Cole
Beever replaced Bruce
Thornton replaced Hinchcliffe

Reynolds took the restart punting the ball deep into Selby’s 22, but conceded a penalty right in front of the posts , Reynolds popped the ball over 3-20
Collecting the restart Heath again won a penalty for not releasing, from the lineout on the 22, the ball made its way across the line to Greenwood, who running a great line found space, Beever overlapped to move forward and saw Reynolds on the inside for a great flowing try . Thornton was unable to convert the difficult chance 3-25

Heath went to sleep in next passage of play, and Selby’s backs who always looked dangerous if they could secure the ball , evaded several despairing tackles to cross for an unconverted try. 8-25

Griffiths replaced Gill.

Heath were soon back on the attack , securing another 5m lineout from a penalty, although Selby caught the ball, the pack drove them back over their own line and won a 5m scrum. The drive was unstoppable, and Wilkinson dropped onto the ball to score an unconverted Try 8-30

Heath again attacked straight from the kick-off , Greenwood collecting a kick through from Malik and then seeing Thornton on his left passed for him to score another great backs try , 8-35

Milner replaced James

Heath cleared from the restart and Selby’s forwards tried to drive through the middle Warner, Whitworth and Shipman stopped the march before a great tackle by Dawes saw the ball drop loose, Reynolds executed a great dummy to move into space, Greenwood was there again and unselfishly passed to the overlapping Griffiths for another debutant try . Thornton kicked over from right on the touchline 8-42

Bruce replaced Dawes

From the kick-off , Wilkinson went on one of his trademark mazy runs eventually offloading to Greenwood for a deserved try , Thornton added the extras 8-49.  With the clock running down Heath wanted to get over the 50 mark, but complacency dropped in and Selby were able to run in again out wide and convert 15-49. 

Wilkinson was then injured in a tackle and Dawes replaced him. From a further penalty , Bruce surged forward winning another penalty , the kick from Reynolds went straight out but Heath secured the ball from the scrum but were unable to progress. With the last play of the game , a knock on from Selby saw a scrum 10m out, Reynolds kicked through and in a drive over the line Wilkinson , who had just returned for Bruce scored his 3rd of the game , Reynolds popped over the final play 

15-56

This was a great performance first time out, there is still much to do , but the benefits of high attendance at training were there for all to see and also great numbers