Heath turn up the heat in the 2nd half

Heath travelled to Baildon with a depleted squad of 14.  Conditions looking across Baildon Moor, although cold, were perfect and the lads were on the first team pitch.  Baildon had a large squad and, as always, were kind enough to lend a player to make it 15 on 15.  Oscar Szadbey switched from wing to blindside flanker - Game on!

Heath were playing up the pitch in the first half.  Baildon were immediately dominating the breakdown and Heath were not organising themselves in defence. Baildon went on the attack in the Heath half.  In the first 5 mins Baildon were making gains down the left and charged over from 15m to score.

Baildon 5 - 0 Heath (4 mins unconverted)

Heath needed to get into the game and within the next play the lads started to get into shape and build multiple phases.  A new combination of half backs/midfield - Ethan Gill, Sonny Gordon and Cohan Slater were gelling well with forwards charging off their short passes.  This good build up led to the ball going out to the Cori McNamara on the left wing to step and sprint over from 10m.

Baildon 5 - 5 Heath (12 mins unconverted)

Heath were starting to dominate possession.  However Baildon were very good at holding the Heath attack up forming mauls and getting good turnovers.  From the halfway line two good breaks by Capt Logan Helliwell-MacDonald and Ben Austin led to Oscar Szadbey getting a pop pass to then use his blistering pace from 20m to sprint under the posts carrying a couple of defenders with him.

Baildon 5 - 12 Heath (22 mins converted by Cori McNamara).

After more good play from both teams an excellent first half came to an end.  It was all to play for in the second half.

Baildon 5 - 12 Heath (HT)

Within the first 90 seconds of the second half, Heath had possession and slick hands by Gordon, Slater and Murphy unleashed McNamara on the right wing at the halfway line.  What followed was absolute dynamite as McNamara stepped outside the defence with a firm hand-off, then stepped inside the cover defence.  McNamara finished in style and scored under the posts.

Baildon 5 - 19 Heath (27 min converted by Cori McNamara)

The scrums throughout the game were balanced as were the line outs.  Heath now notched it up a gear, rucking was both fierce and the lines of running from the forwards direct.  After a couple of good recycles Alex Kershaw received the ball at pace and charged through the defence on the halfway line.  Kershaw then took on two or three defenders who could not pull him down.  With one final hand-off Kershaw dived over the line greeted by his team mates who all celebrated a magnificent try.

Baildon 5 - 26 (40 min converted by Cori McNamara)

To Baildon’s credit their lads kept pressing into the Heath half after a loose restart.  Baildon nearly got over the line in the right corner only for Heath to stand firm.

With three minutes to go Heath had worked down to the Baildon 20m red zone.  From a lineout Helliwell-MacDonald threw into the line at the front.  Prop Wilf Bridge showed a quick pair of hands and gave the ball back into the 5m channel and Helliwell-MacDonald charged over for the final score.

Baildon 5 - 31 Heath (FT unconverted).

As coaches we were really impressed with how the lads organised themselves today.  They stuck to their game plan and showed flexibility with some playing out of position.

Man of the match - Ben Austin

Most improved player - Oscar Szadbey

Next week we host Rochdale at HQ.