Hard going for Heath

HEATH were made to work hard for this victory by a Cottingham side that played well above their lowly position in the second division of the National Conference.

In fact, it was the Hull side that took the lead after 10 minutes with a drop goal from their scrum-half Richy Anderson, although this was meagre reward for 18 consecutive tackles as they camped out on the Crusaders' line.

Only determined tackling from the Heath pack kept them from registering a try. Even at this early stage man-of-the-match Geoff Williams and his front-row partner Jimmy Waterworth were stamping their superiority on their opposite numbers.

From the resulting kick-off full-back Mike Woods recovered the ball and a slick pass put Anthony Marsh through, although he had to show a lot of determination to cross the line.

Five minutes later Heath extended their lead through wing man Phil Glover who had far too much pace for his opposite number after being put in the clear by his centre Paul Coope.

The second quarter was a hard-fought affair with big hits going in as usual from second-rower Dave Lloyd and Darren Harris and hooker Gary Welsby.

Despite good field position, Cottingham were unable to add to their early drop goal, failing to convert two penalty attempts and Heath went into the break seven points to the good.

Two minutes into the second period Mike Woods scored his 19th try of the season bursting onto the ball in his own half and then weaving his way through the Cottingham defenders to score a splendid 50-metre effort in the corner.

It would have been easy for the Hull side to roll over at this point, and Heath certainly never took their foot off the pedal. But that wasn't the case and two tries in 10 minutes from the Cottingham winger Paul Campbell brought them right back into the game.

The first was the result of a series of penalties that put Heath on the back foot and the second again came from a Crusaders' mistake as Campbell pounced on a fumbled ball.

Both the Cottingham tries came while Heath loose-forward Chris Honey and Cottingham centre Gary Mowforth were cooling their heels in the sin-bin for exchanging blows.

Despite heavy traffic in the forwards the Heath half-backs, Ashall and Mitchell started to get the better of the Cottingham pair and their efforts were rewarded in the 65th minute when they combined to put Marsh through for his second try of the afternoon.

The try came wide out on the left after the opposite winger Neil Prescott, making his return after a number of months out, made a break after rounding his opponent.

This gave Heath the breathing space they needed and they were able to finish the game worthy winners.

Marple men of the match were Geoff Williams (forwards) and Anthony Marsh (backs). Leigh East U/16s 0 Crusaders 40

Crusaders cruised through to the next round of the county cup with a comprehensive destruction of their National Youth counterparts from Leigh.

With solid defence and man-of-the-match Carl Forber, Mike Saunders and Kev Brown constantly finding gaps with their fine running and handling, the result was never in doubt.

Other players to catch the eye were Tim Critchley, Chris Harrison, Alan Callister and Wayne Haselden.

Try scorers were Gaz Bowes, Mike Saunders, Dave Anders, Kev Brown (2) and Carl Forber (2), who also kicked six goals.

Crusaders U/12s 30 Orrell St James 10

Crusaders gave a good team performance against an improved Orrell outfit.

Points came from Commhoist Crane Hire man-of-the-match Craig Dearden (2 tries), Ste Parkinson (2 tries), Danny Leatherbarrow (try), Alex McClurg (try) and Danny Chantler (four goals). Top tackler was Ste Taylor and coaches' awards went to Sam Maxwell and Danny Chantler.

Westhoughton U/11s 10 Crusaders 42

In spite of the muddy conditions, Crusaders displayed some good handling skills to run in several tries.

Points came from tries by Anthony Harden (3), Shaun Forber (2), Martin Harper, Tom Crouch and Dave Brownbill (2) with conversions by Ste Barton, Daniel Kenny and Daniel Williamson. Awards, sponsored by Super Nova, went to man-of-the-match Chima Maxwell, top tackler Dave Brownbill and coaches' awards to Anthony Harden and Martin Harper.

Crusaders U/8s 24 Halton 8

The Thatto Heath youngsters were on top form to win this match.

Man of the match, sponsored by Just the Job, was Danny Riley, coaches' awards went to Shane Blackburn and John Fishwick and most improved were Ryan Gilleeney and Luke Waring.

Points came from three tries by top tackler Ryan Smith, with Ben Smith and Liam Fishwick also getting on the scoresheet.