The wins keep coming.

Heath 2nd xv travelled to Leeds to take on Leodiensians 2nd xv in a league game with 16 players. The game was played on a soft pitch on a showery afternoon with little evident wind. Leos got the game underway and it was the home side that had the first opportunity to register points on the board. After 4 minutes, right winger, Riz MUGHAL took the ball in his own ‘22’ but his misdirected kick infield found the Leos prop who made good ground before Heath were penalised for going over the top in the ruck and killing the ball. Fortunately, the kick was unsuccessful. After 10 minutes, full back Simon LOCKWOOD received an ankle injury and he was replaced by Martyn BARNES, (Hangover and all!!), who went onto the right wing with Tobias HINCHCLIFFE going to full back. Again, the Heath pack were smaller than their opponents for the second week running and the plan was not to get embroiled in a forward-orientated game, especially with the back line which they possessed. After 17 minutes, prop Tim COOK left the pitch with a leg injury. Simon LOCKWOOD returned to the field and took up his place at full back once more. Tobias went back to the wing and Martyn BARNES went into the back row. Flanker David PIGEON went to hooker and captain, Ian CRAIGEN, elected to go to prop in order to prevent the requirement of uncontested scrums. This was a big decision considering that his prop opponent was, literally, twice the size of him!!! Shortly afterwards, Heath had an opportunity to open their account with the awarding of a penalty some 30 metres out but outside half, Mick GLEESON, pulled his kick wide to the left. Heath then put together a good period of play. The ball was spun along the line and left wing, Riz MUGHAL, made good ground before being tackled. The ball was recycled and second row, Ryan BROOK, took the move forward once more. Martyn BARNES then took the ball on before skilfully offloading to outside half, Mick GLEESON. He found Ian CRAIGEN who was tackled and subsequently penalised for ‘holding on’ in the tackle. Heath certainly had the beating of their opponents in the backs and the pack were matching their opposite numbers. Thus it was Heath who opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Leos spilled the ball on halfway and it was picked up by Mick GLEESON who showed good speed to score under the posts. He converted the try himself. 7-0. Heath extended their lead in the 39th minute when a raking kick to the corner from Mick GLEESON put the home full back under pressure. He fly-hacked at the ball and missed it completely!! Riz MUGHAL and scrum half, Gary PIGEON went for it but the home full back just laid over. He was correctly penalised and a penalty try could have been awarded as there was no-one else near the play but the penalty kick award only followed. Scrum half Gary PIGEON took the tap and centre Martin SHAW forced his way over the line from 7 metres. The conversion was missed but the lead was increased to 12-0. Unfortunately, there was 5 further minutes of injury time to play and from their first real foray into the Heath ‘22’ the home side opened their account. The ball found their number ‘8’ who made good ground through a missed tackle and offloaded well to his supporting colleague, who scored to the side of the posts. The conversion was attempted via a drop kick for some unknown reason and it was horribly wide. The half time whistle followed. 12-5. This was a good half of rugby being played by 2 well matched sides. The Heath plan for the second half was to ensure the bigger home pack did not maul their way upfield and also, the backs to run the ball when possible with tactical kicking behind the home backline as an option. For the first 10 minutes of the second half, Heath kept Leos pinned in their own half and were playing good possession rugby. However, Leos relieved the pressure when a long kick downfield was spilled by Simon LOCKWOOD leading to the awarding of a Leos scrum on the Heath 10 metre line. This signalled a period of pressure from the home side that the Heath lads defended very well. After 58 minutes, the lead was reduced when Leos had a line out some 10 metres from the Heath line. The ball was caught cleanly and the number 8 went blind and was untouched scoring a try in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful. 12-10. Heath had an opportunity for a quick response when they were awarded a penalty some 28 metres out and 15 metres away from the posts. The kick looked to be sailing between the sticks but it went to the right at the last second. The score remained 12-10. Leos were able to take a good foothold in the Heath ‘22’ and they pressurised the Heath line for a solid 3-4 minutes through forward pick and drives. This was repelled by excellent Heath defence resulting in a knock forward by the centre. A relieving kick to touch from Mick GLEESON followed and when Heath won the line out against the throw, after a couple of drives, the ball was then kicked into touch just outside the home ‘22’ by scrum half, Gary PIGEON. An excellent reply by the Heath boys. Their grafting was rewarded with a further converted try in the 78th minute. The home outside half spilled the ball on his own ‘22’ and Heath got good turnover ball. Centre Martin SHAW then put in an excellent chip kick over the defence. Although the young home scrum half got the ball just short of the try line, Martin SHAW followed up his kick and turned the scrum half in the tackle. The ball was then picked up by centre, Andrew WHITE, who passed it out left to the supporting number 8, Richard DANCE who scored some 15 metres to the left of the posts. Mick GLEESON kicked a good conversion and Heath now had a cushion at 19-10. Heath then played out the final few minutes to record an excellent victory, 19-10. This was good, overall performance by the Heath lads. It was good to see Gary PIGEON back in the fold at scrum half after a number of seasons at York RI. Along with outside half, Mick GLEESON, he showed excellent, organising communication skills. The Heath boys are currently enjoying themselves playing against teams at a very similar level, making each game a competitive match. Man of the match awards go to outside half, Mick GLEESON, who showed some excellent touches and displayed very good tactical know-how throughout. Also, second row, Ryan BROOK, put in a good display in both tight and loose after missing the last 3 weeks with a shoulder injury. He put in some good tackles and made good ground with ball in hand.