Fine win in first game of campaign.

Heath welcomed visitors from the Dales country, North Ribblesdale, to a resplendent-looking North Dean. The pitch looked in perfect condition for what was expected to be a fast open game at the start of season 2011/12. Heath also welcomed new recruits Andy Muir at number 8 and Karl Craven at number 13. North Ribblesdale kicked off straight into touch and from the resulting scrum fullback Si Brown received the ball and passed to wing Darren Fermoyle who kicked through. New boy Andy Muir was in support to collect and go over the try-line. Charlie Lomas kicked his first excellent conversion to make the score 7 – 0 after 2 minutes. Heath continued to keep on top of the game, throwing the ball from wing to wing with Lomas (Fly-half) and Pidgeon (Scrum-half) orchestrating things. A penalty on 7 minutes against North Ribb for off-side allowed Lomas to increase the lead to 10 – 0. Five minutes later, Downsborough won good lineout ball and released Pigeon. A planned moved brought Si Brown into the line and he passed to centre Karl Craven. He, in turn, passed to club stalwart Mark Garside who went over for an unconverted try: 15 – 0. North Ribb’s first foray into the Heath 22 saw the home side concede a penalty but a woeful kick from Moon saw him miss an easy chance to put points on the board. The visitors were looking for a score and there was a period of Heath having to defend with Olly Cook being penalised and Moor finally converting, to make the score 15 – 3 after 23 minutes. Lomas then made a great run and created an opening for Garside and Brown to link up, only for Brown to slip as he made the final pass to Baxendale for what should have been a certain try on 25 minutes, but the referee blew up for ‘crossing’. From the resulting scrum, Heath won the ball and a period of sustained pressure on the visitors try line eventually saw Downsborough release hooker Puttick to score Heath’s 3rd try on 32 minutes. Another excellent conversion from Lomas from the touchline increased the score to 22 – 3 with Heath in command. Five minutes later Heath came up with a try from nothing. Only persistence from Baxendale made him chase a ball following a fly-kick through. He kept going and eventually picked it up and, despite the attentions of three North Ribb players, he managed to get over in the corner. Lomas made another splendid conversion from the touchline to extend the lead to 29 – 3. The bonus point was secure. As half time approached North Ribb gave away another penalty which Lomas put away to produce a score of 32 – 3. This concluded a superb 40 minutes from Heath who never let the visitors settle and set up the prospect of a great 2nd half. Heath made a hesitant start to the second half as North Ribb looked to regain some pride and put on pressure. Heath stood firm and mounted their first attack on 48 minutes, but nothing came of it. On 55 minutes, Brown and Muir both left the field, injured. Fullback Eddie Cartwright and secondrow Ryan Hunter came on and the team was reorganized. North Ribb were now competing. A Lomas clearance kick on 58 minutes bounced awkwardly for the visitors and Baxendale latched on to the ball on the half way line to canter home for an unexpected try, which Lomas converted to extend the lead to 39 -3. Mark Garside went off to allow prop Hammond on. With all the changes Heath were less fluent and gaps began to appear in the defence. North Ribb nearly exposed one but dropped the ball as a score looked certain. The visitor’s Watson intercepted for the second time and he ran fully 60m before being caught by Lomas and Cartwright, but the support was there and North Ribb scored a consolation try, converted by Moon to make it 39 – 10 after 72 minutes. Thereafter, Heath made some silly mistakes but the game was won. North Ribb had the final say with a converted try under the posts to give a final score of 39 – 17 in Heath’s favour. This was very much a game of two halves with Heath dominating the first 40 minutes but lacking direction in the second 40.