Heath’s big occasion at North Dean spoiled by Hull Ionians

As expected, a large crowd had gathered to witness the occasion and the ground looked splendid after work had been carried out over the summer.

However, it was the visitors who made the running in the opening stages, scoring two converted tries to lead 14-0 with 24 minutes played.

A clever restart kick from Chris Johnson should have paid dividends but Heath made a mistake with a knock on and the chance was gone.

Ionians gradually began to dictate play but handling errors spared struggling Heath.

On the half-hour, Seif Boussaada and Dan Smith replaced Pete Hampshire and Josh Buller but they were powerless to stop the attacking prowess of Hull and a superb kick presented another opportunity to score but Heath defended well and the chance was gone.

Heath replied when yet another penalty from Johnson found touch. When Harvey Keighley-Payne collected ball, the drive was on but once again a mistake from Heath saw the visitors clear their lines.

With half time approaching, Tom Clough came on for Tom Stansfield but there was little time left for him to have any possession as the whistle sounded.

The second half began with Chris Johnson kicking deep into the visitors' half.

From the return kick by Ionians, Johnson collected the ball and linked up with Cliff Howard. The Heath wingman set off on a jinking run before being stopped by Hull's defence.

However, Heath retained ball and when it came out to Jake Hynes, although still having a mountain of work to do, he managed to evade several tackles and, roared on by the home crowd, crossed for a try, converted by Johnson and Heath were back in the game 14-7 with 45 minutes on the clock.

Tom Egan was replaced by Zac Baker and, with Heath now on top, Ionians were struggling to stop the onslaught.

However, they defended well and when they managed to get into Heath's 22, they struck with a third converted try, taking advantage of some poor defensive work.

Chris Moore and Keighley-Payne were replaced by Elliott Spiers and Josh Buller as Heath tried to keep hold of the ball and probe the visitors' defence.

A penalty from Johnson found touch in the corner but once again Heath failed to capitalise, losing line out ball.

The hosts continued to press and a break came on 70 minutes when Harrison received the ball out on the wing and with work still to be done, he managed to touch-down in the corner. A difficult conversion from Johnson saw Heath back in the game at 21-14 with ten minutes left to play.

Jonny Cole left the field as Keighley-Payne returned, but he was powerless to prevent the visitors from scoring a fourth bonus point try to wrap up the win.

Heath will be hoping for better fortunes when they travel to Sheffield Tigers on Saturday.