Enjoyed by players & spectators alike - what it's about.

Heath 3rd xv entertained Morley 3rd xv at West Vale on a lovely Autumn day. Unfortunately we only had 10 players ( 9 after Anthony Dorling pulled a muscle in the warm – up) but Morley lent us 5 players and the game was played with uncontested scrums.

After 12 minutes Heath found themselves trailing by 0 – 14 but, from a scrum, outside half, Matt Baxendale made a superb break from inside his own half and scored an excellent solo try, the conversion being narrowly missed by James Whitworth. 5 – 14.

Morley extended their lead to 5 – 21 with a further converted try but Heath immediately hit back with a second try for Matt Baxendale. The ‘difficult’ conversion under the posts was missed by Mr Whitworth. 10 – 21.

Morley scored another converted try but Heath managed to reduce the deficit near the end of the first half when scrum half, Sam Sharp kicked through and just managed to get downward pressure on the ball before the dead ball line. Yes. You guessed it, the conversion was missed by James.

Half time:  Heath 3rds 15 v 28 Morley 3rds.

The Morley contingent in the Heath side were replaced by their fellow players and the second half started with the big second row of Morley crashing through a number of tackles to score a converted try. 15 – 35. However, once again, the Heath lads responded quickly. After a period of pressure in the Morley ‘22’, hooker Leon Ashton picked up a loose ball after a ruck to stretch over the line for a try which Mr W managed to convert. Hurrah. 22 v 35.

Morley extended their lead to 22 – 42 but Heath were looking dangerous in the backs with Matt Baxendale and centre, Jack Fox putting in some excellent runs beating opposition at will. The forwards, Jimmy Li, Olli Burbridge, Gareth Owen and Will Nicholson stuck to their task and all put in some excellent tackles against the big Morley side.

Once again, Matt Baxendale made a break from inside the Heath ‘22’ and went the length of the pitch to score an excellent try under the posts after which he was on his haunches for some time. He says it was because he was short of breath, I believe it was because he realised that he would now have to buy a jug of beer for the lads for scoring 3 tries!!! Oh and by the way, James missed the conversion from under the posts.  27 – 42.

Morley hit back with a further converted try to make the score 27 – 49 but the home side had the last word when James Whitworth followed a kick through and hacked the ball over the line to score a further try. ( He did not bother taking the conversion) The referee, Noah Hawkins then brought the game to an end.

Final score: Heath 3rd xv 32 v 49 Morley 3rd xv.

I would like to thank Iain Craigon, the ex – Heath player who now runs Morley 3rds, and the Morley lads who played for us this afternoon but particularly a big thank you to the 10 Heath boys who turned up for a game of rugby and were able to play in a game  enjoyed by players and spectators alike which is what it is all about.