VIBRANT HEATH BANK ANOTHER 3 POINTS

An impressive Heath performance, away at one of their closest rivals, brought up their seventh league win in a row and another three vital points for the Blues as they dented Little Common's promotion hopes with a spirited display from the whole team who are growing into a strong unit.

In a game played in pretty much all weathers over the 90 minutes it was Heath who started the best as they dominated the first 25 minutes creating several chances that they were unable to convert, apart from the one Kevin Cooper slotted in after 4 minutes when he calmly collected a loose ball and with a precision strike slid it into the net beating a couple of prostrate defenders and the keeper in the process. Heath's momentum was badly disrupted by an injury to Johnny White, caused by a very late and over the top tackle which damaged his ankle, and he had to be substituted. The perpetrator went scot free but unfortunately Heath had to reorganise the defence and were caught as they did this by a long ball that let in the left winger clean through on goal. He shot across Chris Turner who got a hand to it but was unable to push it wide, and so at half time it was all square with Little Common believing they were in the driving seat.

The first few minutes of the second half saw Common have probably their best spell of the match with a couple crosses that flashed past the Heath goal with no one reaching them, but Heath then simply upped their game and started passing and stretching the Little Common defence who were reduced to cynical fouling to try and stop the tide of blue enveloping them. The referee was struggling to impose his authority on the game, with his main error being not dealing with the Little Common captain who was manhandling and kicking from behind Lee Newman who was giving a master class in leading the line and tormenting defenders, and it seemed only a matter of time before the overdue penalty would be conceded.

Several Heath chances went begging, with some errant finishing and some last ditch defending heroics jointly responsible before from a corner, Dave 'Leaping Salmon' Moores scored his second bullet header in a week to give the visitors a deserved lead. The game got stretched and Heath came close to notching a third especially when young sub Adam Wright, who is showing a lot of potential, coolly ran through the defence, beat the last man and lined up the shot, but one of the defenders just got back to deflect the chance wide. Eventually with a couple of minutes to go Newman was bundled over again for the umpteenth time from behind, and the free kick in a central position was 25 yards out. Beard rolled the ball sideways as demanded by Dean Pitcher, who capped an industrious performance from the bench as he met it absolutely perfectly and drilled it into the bottom corner to spark off delighted Heath celebrations at the hard won three points.

This team performance showed the growing confidence and camaraderie that is within the group of players, with all of them working hard to produce the result for the team which they are obviously enjoying being part of. All in all it was a thoroughly impressive professional display that leaves them second in the table with 5 games left to play.

This week Heath on Saturday 4th April are at home again for the first time in 5 weeks when they play Forest in a vital league game with a 3.00pm kick off. All are welcome, under 16's free entry, come and support your local team and enjoy the friendly Hanbury hospitality.

Team

Turner, White (Moores 30), Wright L, Howes, Humphries, Day (Wright A 80), Beard, Cooper R, Breeds, Cooper K (Pitcher 60), Newman

Man of the Match

Newman