Second half surge propels Heath to superb home win
Heath remained in touch with the top three in Regional 1 North East with an 18-13 success over second-placed Harrogate.
The hosts produced a gutsy display to defeat the high flying visitors and stay fourth in the table.
In atrocious conditions, it was Harrogate who made the early running with two penalties in the opening quarter of the game.
Heath created opportunities but lost possession at crucial times and it looked like the six point buffer would remain in place until the second half but Ezra Hinchliffe slotted over a penalty just before the break to get the home side off the mark.
The players were greeted with yet another torrential downpour on the resumption but Heath began well and were quickly on the attack with charging runs from Josh Crickmay and Saif Boussaada.
A superb kick through from Adam Brook saw Joe Morrison chase and as Harrogate players fumbled the ball he pounced to touchdown in the corner for an unconverted try and Heath led 8-6 with only two minutes played in the second half.
Callum Harriott-Brown, Ezra Hinchliffe and Dan Cole linked well, making solid yardage as Harrogate struggled with the conditions, and Hinchliffe added a penalty to increase Heath's lead to 11-6.
Chris Johnson replaced Adam Brook to keep the pressure on the visitors defence, who seemed to have imploded and, when Tom Clough charged for the line, up cropped Josh Crickmay to crash over for a try, converted by Chris Johnson, with only ten minutes played in the half.
Harrogate needed to get hold of the ball and when Dan Fleming received a card, a quick tap kick saw them crash over for an unconverted try and the visitors were back in the game 18-13.
Time was ticking as Heath continued to keep the visitors at bay but Harrogate could not penetrate a solid defence and the boot of
Chris Johnson cleared several times.
Deep into injury time, one last surge from Harrogate was thwarted by the home defence as the referee blew for full time.
York extended their lead at the top following a win away to Blaydon and Heath travel to Sandal on Saturday, hoping to keep in touch with the leaders.