Heath recover from early tries to beat Scunthorpe
Heath returned to winning ways in Regional 1 North East with a hard-fought 43-31 win at Scunthorpe.
The hosts went into the game languishing near the bottom of the table but they made a blistering start, scoring two tries, one converted, to go 12-0 up with only eight minutes gone.
Heath refused to lie down however and Callum Harriott-Brown finished-off a superb move to open their account before Chris Johnson set-up and converted Jason Merrie’s touchdown to level the scores on 25 minutes.
Back came Scunthorpe and added a converted try to their tally but Heath now went in search of another score and they found it in the final minutes of the half.
Once again Jason Merrie made valuable yardage before linking up with Jordan Bradbrook and the supporting Sam Fletcher slipped a pass to Dan Cole for a Johnson-goaled score that levelled matters once again.
The visitors went ahead for the first time before the interval, thanks to Saif Boussaada’s try and Johnson’s goal and they were in no mood to let the advantage slip as they turned the screw at the start of the second period.
Harriott-Brown crashed over in the corner, Johnson adding the extras to make it 33-19 and following a yellow card for Elliott Spiers, the home side took advantage to
cross on 50 minutes.
The game was now a real battle but despite Heath dominating the scrums, they could not find a way through.
Johnson landed a penalty on the hour and Heath had to reshuffle following injuries to Merrie and Sam Fletcher.
However, they extended their lead when Fergus Marsden won line out ball to set up Alex McFadden’s raid to the try line. Johnson’s conversion put Heath 43-24 ahead with five minutes left.
Scunthorpe were not finished yet and they broke free
to score a converted try in injury time but it proved to be no more than a consolation.
The win leaves Heath in fourth spot only four points adrift of second-placed Driffield. They now face a crucial top of the table clash at home to Alnwick, who lie third, on
Saturday (3pm).
Heath seconds entertained a strong Keighley side and produced another impressive display as they ran out 38-5 winners.
The home side cruised to a 24-5 half-time lead before dominating the second half.