Heath beaten at the coast

Jordan Bradbrook (concussion), Eddie Cartwright (injured) and unavailable pair Ryan Hunter and Howard Hanks were out so Ben Maxwell, Callum Harriet-Brown and Jordan Moana started while the bench comprised Fergus Marsden, Si Brown and debutant Brad Davis.

Heath got off to the perfect start in superb but cold conditions when they were awarded a penalty in the first minute which Ezra Hinchliffe kicked.

However, the lead was short lived as Scarborough fought back and got a penalty of their own to make it 3-3 after seven minutes.

The referee began penalising at the scrum and a Scarborough prop was sin-binned.

The home side continued to press and only the intervention of Harriet-Brown prevented a score from a clever cross field kick.

On 25 minutes Scarborough broke the deadlock with a converted try in the corner to lead 10-3.

Heath needed to respond and good work from Tom Baxter and Olly Cook saw them make headway into the Scarborough half.

On 35 minutes Dom Walsh put in a kick and Luke Saltenstall race onto the ball and collected. He passed back along the line for Harriet-Brown to cross in the corner but the referee pulled play back for a forward pass.

Heath battered the Scarborough defence but they could not find a way through and half time came.

The Halifax side picked up where they had left off. A huge clearance from Jack Sheldrake saw the lively Harriett-Brown close players down but still the visitors could not score.

Scarborough came back and from a quick tap penalty scored a second converted try to make it 17-3 after 58 minutes.

Charges from Moana, Richard Brown and Fergus Marsden saw the home side give away a penalty in front of the posts. Heath opted for a scrum and produced a great surge but were held up short of the try line and Scarborough once again cleared.

The hosts produced good open rugby and went in for a third converted try after 70 minutes to increase the score to 24-3.

Despite going close on several occasions, a bonus point try eluded them.

This was another game in which Heath performed well but could not score when they held the upper hand. They entertain lowly Selby on Saturday.