A glorious afternoon at Whitemans Green saw Heath welcome league newcomers Bec Old Boys, a game that was preceded by a minutes silence following the very sad news that former player, coach and club legend Steve Heaton, who was synonymous with the glory days at the club had passed away.

After last week's defeat Heath needed a better performance and were quickly into their stride. When a huge clearance kick from scrum half and Player of the Match Olly Miller was bundled into touch in their own 22 by the visitors Heath were happy to take advantage. The line out was won and the ball swung into midfield where OBs conceded a penalty in front of the posts which was tapped by Miller and went through the hands to skipper Wilf Bridges to brush aside defenders for the opening score converted by Tom Wharton for 7-0 after just 4 minutes.

The visitors were quick to respond with a driving maul going over for 7-5 but Heath hit back immediately. A lineout on the halfway line saw the ball moved into midfield where a beautifully timed short pass from centre Alex Harrison put fellow centre Chris Benstead-Schlup through a hole untouched to outpace the defence and score under the posts for 14-5.

More Heath pressure and another quick tapped penalty from Miller in the opposition 22 saw him flick a pass out the back of his hand to supporting winger Evan Herbert who handed off tacklers and dotted down for 19-5.

Five minutes later and with two OBs in the sin bin for a high tackle and deliberate knock on respectively a scrum on the left saw the ball moved down the right where from a ruck 5 metres out Miller again found Herbert who ran a line to go through the defence for his second try securing a valuable bonus point and a 24-5 advantage which is how it stayed to the break.

Heath looked to have sealed the win when with 8 minutes gone of the second half a line out just inside the visitors half saw Heath spin the ball wide left where they were stopped on the 22 before quick work from the pack saw it recycled to the centre where Alex Harrison stepped the the first defender and ran a diagonal line to score under the posts, converted by Wharton for 31-5.

A combination of a lack of concentration when thinking the game was won and some really poor game management saw Heath almost let the game slide in the final half hour. Two try scoring opportunities with overlaps went begging which would have seen the home side out of sight and once again ill discipline got them on the wrong side of the referee. Conceding persistent penalties that allowed OBs to exit their own half and turn the screw by kicking to the corner saw Heath gift the visitors three tries and pull the score back to 31-26. Some desperate defence from Heath in the final ten minutes saw them hold out the OBs forwards who were searching for an unlikely victory and the final whistle came as a welcome relief.

Whilst it was important to get the win and the full 5 points to take them into mid-table this Heath side must learn from that final half hour that they need to be more ruthless in finishing off scoring opportunities but also control the game far more effectively from a winning position by playing their rugby in the opposition half and cutting out the soft penalties.

Next weekend Old Wimbledonians are the visitors to Whitemans Green whilst Heath Rams travel away to Hastings.

1st Team Match Squad: Charles Newey; Flinn Herbert; Euan Greaves-Smith; Harry Clark; Pat Steadman; George Targett; Josh Salisbury; Wilf Bridges(capt); Olly Miller; Jamie Thurston; Matt Cains; Alex Harrison; Christian Benstead-Schlup; Evan Herbert; Tom Wharton; Lewis Goodhall; Archie Francis; Ellis Dubois