Late penalty anguish for Heath in defeat to high flying rivals

​Heath now lie fourth in the table but Huddersfield closed the gap on leaders Scunthorpe to just three points after the table toppers suffered a surprise loss to Selby.

The home crowd had much to cheer on eight minutes when Dom Walsh was held short but Josh Crickmay was in support to pounce for a try.

However, the lead was short lived as the visitors, in their first attack, scored a converted try just two minutes later.

Heath edged ahead midway through the first half thanks to Chris Johnson’s penalty and they pushed for another try, only to see Jake Haynes denied by a desperate cover tackle.

The pressure paid off when Johnson landed another penalty 10 minutes before the break but Huddersfield hit back with a converted try to go 14-11 up.

Tempers flared and Heath's Seif Boussaada and Huddersfield's Hammond were carded after an altercation. The visitors had another player carded for a high tackle on the stroke of half-time, giving Johnson the chance to level with a penalty.

Heath remained on the front foot at the start of the second period. Callum Harriott-Brown and Harvey Keighley-Payne linked well, making good yardage, before a crashing run from Jack Pilcher saw the visitors defence clinging on as he was held short of the try-line.

Following a period of stalemate, Huddersfield made the most of a rare attack to score a converted try that put them 21-14 ahead with 10 minutes remaining.

The score failed to deter Heath and they quickly responded, throwing the ball around to eventually prise open the visitors’ defence.

From a drive to the line, Crickmay emerged with the ball for his second try, converted by Johnson, and the scores were level with eight minutes left to play.

Olly Cook replaced Pilcher as Heath went in search of adding to their tally but once again they could not break down the visitors’ defence.

Then, in the final minute, Huddersfield were given a life-line after being awarded a disputed penalty and up stepped Milner to convert and snatch the win.