Heath blow off cobwebs with resounding West Bridgford triumph

It was Wests’ first ever visit to North Dean and they pushed for the opening score, only to see Heath's Elliott Spiers pounce on a loose pass before the supporting Ben Stringer put Chris Johnson over for a self-converted try with five minutes played.

The visitors once again pressed for a score but were guilty of making mistakes at crucial points in their play. From a quickly taken penalty, Dom Walsh released Elliott Spiers and the wing man scored in the corner.

Heath were flying and they extended the lead to 19-0 midway through the half when Jason Merrie crossed in the corner and Chris Johnson landed a superb touchline conversion.

The plucky visitors were rewarded with a converted score and the home side responded with waves of attacks, Saif Boussaada held up as he bulldozed forward, but from the drop out West Bridgford were caught offside and Heath opted for the scrum in front of the visitors’ posts.

From the resulting drive, Ben Stringer was on hand to score the try, converted by Chris Johnson on the half-hour.

Wests held out until the second half before Heath extended the advantage through Callum Harriott-Brown’s try, converted by Johnson, only a minute after the restart.

Merrie went over on 50 minutes to make it 38-7 and Fergus Marsden was on hand to cross for another try, goaled by Johnson.

Heath were in a rampant mood and it came as no surprise to see Merrie peel off the scum before releasing Chris Johnson to go over for a converted try that made it 52-7 with a quarter of the game still to play.

Credit must go to the visitors who continued to battle and they were rewarded with a penalty try before they grabbed a converted try shortly after with ten minutes remaining.

West Bridgford were now looking for a bonus try point and they were rewarded in the last play of the game with a converted try and a final score of 52-28.

The win keeps Heath in third spot ahead of Saturday’s testing trip to York.

Heath seconds celebrated the new year with a hugely impressive 43-7 win at league leaders Moortown.