Hard work but 5 points!

Heron, Puttick, Morley, James, Ward, Dawes, Wilkinson, Barnes, R.Cole, Hallett, T.Hinchliffe, S.Brown, Greenwood, Griffiths, Bruce.
Sub: Whitworth.

Tries: S.Brown, Greenwood, Heron, & T.Hinchliffe.
Con: Hallett.

Heath arrived at Salem with a squad of sixteen after three late withdrawals but welcomed back first teamer's Simon Brown and Mark Puttick. With a lack luster warm up Heath seemed uninspired by the second team pitch and the cold, heavy conditions. This was reflected in the opening exchanges, Salem dominated possession with only Heath's strong defence, lead by man of the match Brown, Matthew Hallett and Danny Greenwood in midfield, keeping the home side scoreless. Salem opened the scoring with a simple penalty. Against the run of play, fullback Jack Bruce returned a deep kick back to the halfway before putting Tobias Hinchliffe away. The winger exchanged passes with Greenwood before he found Brown who had the pace to finish in the corner for an unconverted try. Salem replied with another penalty goal. This seemed to kick start Heath into action as they dominated the rest of he half. Strong running by Emlyn James, Puttick, & Martyn Barnes put Heath on the front foot, with Salem struggling to cope with the faster pace. Hallett kicked deep with a couple of penalties. Craig Morley and Matthew Wilkinson went close before Richard Cole delayed a pass for the rampaging Greenwood to touch down under the posts, Hallett converted. James Whitworth replaced Morley. The impressive Max Dawes dominated the lineout and was playing superbly before a huge hit in midfield left him on the ground with Bradford Infirmary later confirming a broken clavicle. Morley returned and Heath continued to attack, George Heron ran onto a miss pass from a ruck and carried players over the line for a deserved score. Winger Owain Griffiths carried well with limited opportunities. As half time approached the away team secured the bonus point, Cole kicked behind a static defence, Puttick chased hard and released Hinchliffe for an unconverted try in the corner. Half time 6-22.

With the elements now in Heath's favour and with a couple of tweeks required the squad were optimistic about the second half. However, this didn't transpire with poor ball control and frustration with decisions dominating a poor forty minutes. Bruce and Greenwood went close, Brook Ward worked tirelessly in defence and attack but Heath couldn't add to their tally. With no replacements and worsening heavy conditions a couple of nasty incidents seemed to put Heath off, one resulting in the home second rower being binned for stamping. Whitworth was sin binned for interference at the ruck, Salem scored twelve unanswered points to set up a nervy end. With the both backs and forwards putting their bodies on the line a knock on brought the game to an end.

This was a tough game in testing circumstances, but it highlighted how much this squad has evolved. Well done to all the players that pulled on the shirt for another deserved five points.