Heath bow out of Shield.

HEATH gave a battling display but were always chasing the game in this Yorkshire Shield second round match at North Dean. While many clubs pay the county competitions scant regard nowadays, last night’s Yorkshire One rivals held nothing back in a full-blooded encounter. Selby’s excellent defence was decisive against a home side lacking their most penetrative two backs in Giles Hetherington and Marty Moana, and Heath’s season is now in danger of fizzling out. When Selby extended their 6-3 interval lead with two fine converted tries before the hour mark Heath looked out of it. But the introduction of fresh legs enabled them to dominate the last quarter and they might well have had more than hooker Dave Montgomery’s converted try to show for their efforts. Martin White, a late replacement for Moana, had a fine match in the centre for the home side while young fullback Ed Cartwright showed great promise and Alastair Gordon, Joe Shipman and Ollie Wilby benefited from Montgomery’s excellent throwing to dominate the lineouts. However, Selby had the upper hand in the scrums and more cohesion in the backs with winger Alex Arthur a real speedster. The powerful left boot of tall Selby fullback Dan Porter was the dominant feature of the first half. He dispatched several towering clearances into the night sky and was also responsible for successful penalties on five and 13 minutes, having got the distance but not the accuracy with an early effort from close to half way. Porter also miscued when presented with a 19th minute penalty opportunity after a lightning break by the visitors. Much of the play in the opening 40 minutes was centred between the Selby 22 and the half way line but Heath’s young backs lacked precision with their passing against an eager defence. It was left to Cartwright to halve the deficit with a straight 32 metre penalty eight minutes before the break. Selby opened up a 10-point lead with a fine try five minutes into the second half. Cartwright’s hurried clearance won them a lineout on the 22 and stand off Russell Dovey’s excellent inside ball sent Arthur haring towards the posts. His pass sent in Ed Clark for a try converted by Porter. White was halted by a great tackle as Heath threatened a try for the first time and Cartwright then hit the right hand upright with a penalty following a scrum on the Selby 22. The game was opening up and a run by Heath winger Josh Lister lacked support before visiting scrum half Matthew Smith used Arthur as a foil and would have scored but for Wilby’s superb touchline tackle. Porter hobbled off just before the hour but Selby immediately extended their lead to 20-3. Scrum power won them a put in on the home 22 and Clark cut inside Lister for his second try, Austin converting. Heath’s response to adversity was impressive and they replied four minutes later, White making a half break and Montgomery handing off two defenders to touch down. Cartwright added the conversion. The home side then rucked aggressively through numerous phases of play but Selby were equally determined in defence. Heath’s big chance to really get back into the game came when impressive replacement scrum half Gary Pidgeon ducked under a tackle and sped clear. His was cut down by the last tackler but the ball was spun left where the home side had a two man overlap, only for Ofeina Hushon’s pass to elude them and go into touch. The forwards then powered 20 metres towards the line in a maul but Selby held firm, cleared and can now look forward to a home game with either Wheatley Hills or Bradford Salem in the next round. Heath have an opportunity for revenge when they go to Selby in the league on April 10.