Heath seconds stretch winning run with shut-out of Moortown
THE FREEZING weather put paid to Heath first team’s fixture last weekend but their second team clubmates are sitting pretty at the top of Merit League Championship North following a 40-0 home win over Moortown.
In-form Heath went into the game on the back of four wins and against the team that has been top of the league for most of the season.
And the home side started well and on one of the first attacks from the scrum, Matthew Hallett collected a bouncing ball and set off on a mazy run to the line, beating players with power and pace to touch-down. Richard Cole converted for a deserved lead.
Hallett doubled his tally shortly after, backing up a Simon Brown break, who had been put clear by the influential Junaid Malik, Cole again converting.
Heath were dominating with strong breaks from Jack Bruce, Danny Greenwood and Matthew Wilkinson, and after Cole found Brown with a long pass on the blind side, he timed his pass superbly to send Bruce sprinting clear for an unconverted try in the corner.
The evergreen Emlyn James and Richard Dance were working hard to put and keep Heath on the front foot while Max Dawes, Wilkinson and Joe Shipman were defending superbly against the powerful visitors who had spells battering the Heath line.
Adam Milner, Martyn Barnes and the returning Rondene Johnson entered the fray to refresh the pack and all three added enthusiasm and ensured the pace of the game remained high as the first half ended with Heath 19-0 ahead.
Heath continued their fine work on the resumption and strong drives from Milner, Mark Puttick and George Heron set up good position before Hallett backed up Brown to score the bonus point try and complete his hat-trick, Cole adding the extras.
The next try was scored after slick hands from the backs, Brown timing his pass superbly to Bruce, who finished well after beating the full-back on the outside. The touchline conversion was kicked by Cole.
Owain Griffiths, Jack Thornton and the welcome return of Ian Downsborough changed things up as Heath chased more points.
Brook Ward went clear and Cole kicked into the corners from a number of penalties. From a scrum ten metres out, Downsborough and Cole put Brown in space to score a try, Cole kicking the conversion from wide out before he was replaced by Hallett.
Table toppers Heath now have four point advantage over second-placed Bradford & Bingley