Heath make light work of hosts to march into next round of cup
Heath marched into the next round of the Papa John's Cup thanks to a seven-try demolition of Shropshire side Bridgnorth.
Dan Cole covered to clear the danger from an early raid as the hosts made a bright start.
This seemed to spur on Heath and, following a kick from Cole, Joe Morrison set off in chase. The home side covered but when Elliott Spiers broke he managed to slip a pass to the supporting Jonny Cole who crossed for the opening try, converted by Chris Johnson, and Heath led 7-0 with only three minutes played.
The home side found an immediate response however and from the restart, Bridgnorth converted a penalty to reduce the arrears to 7-3.
A frantic start from both teams eventually saw the game even out but with 15 minutes played, Alex McFadden had to leave the field with a knee injury and was replaced by Jack Pilcher who was quickly in the thick of things.
A penalty from Chris Johnson saw Heath increase their lead to 10-3 and, with the visitors now playing with much more confidence, Johnny Cole pounced for his second, converted by Johnson to put Heath 17-3 up with 25 minutes gone.
Saif Boussaada picked up the ball ten metres out and evaded several attempted tackles to cross for another converted try that put the visitors in control with a halftime lead of 24-3.
The onslaught resumed in the second half and from a line-out, Joe Morrison sprinted 25 metres to score under the posts, Johnson again converting, and two minutes later, Morrison crossed for his second try to make it 38-3.
Bridgnorth hit back with their first converted try of the game 10 minutes later but Heath’s surge continued with a touchdown from Dom Walsh, improved by the boot of Ezra Hinchliffe.
From a line out, Boussaada collected and the drive ended with Jack Pilcher emerging with the ball for an unconverted try before the hosts grabbed a late consolation try that made the final score 50-15.
This was the perfect start to Heath’s cup campaign in their quest to reach the final.
Next up is a home encounter against Rossendale, which should prove to be another cracker of a game and one not to be missed.