Heworth, after two consecutive postponements finally got their first Premier Division campaign for 25 years under way with a visit to old rivals West Hull but despite a tenacious and committed defensive effort, in which every man played his part the Humbersiders eventually prevailed 24-10. The Villagers, in the face of a mounting penalty count in favour of the home side led 10-6 at the break after a mammoth tackling stint restricted the hosts to a single try before taking advantage of the rare opportunities which came their way to post two impressive touchdowns to get themselves in front. The second half followed a similar pattern and with a further string of penalties going against them the Black and Whites had to mount another rearguard action which inevitably led to a number of basic errors creeping in and it eventually took its toll in the final quarter with the home side posting two tries in the closing ten minutes to take the spoils.
A well drilled Wests outfit looked threatening in the early stages and after dominating possession they took the lead on 13 minutes with a try by stand off Josh Wood converted by loose forward Ryan Wilson. Heworth though soaked up more defensive pressure before seven minutes later in their first visit to the home twenty metre area a quick play the ball close to the posts followed by a superb cut out pass from stand off Danny Allan led to centre Tyler Craig crossing on the left edge and Allan's fine conversion levelled matters at 6-6. Another spell of stout defending followed and with just five minutes of the half remaining the Villagers managed to create good field position in their opponent's half and some slick handling enabled winger James Morland to go over, again in the left corner, for an excellent score. Allan's touchline conversion attempt looked to have crept over the crossbar but was denied by the official in the absence of touch judges and they had to settle for a 10-6 interval lead.
Heworth's advantage was short lived after home winger Ethan Shore levelled matters with an unconverted try five minutes into the second period. The Black and Whites continued to fall foul of the referee's whistle but more scrambling defence kept the hosts at bay before on 58 minutes a Wilson penalty goal edged them two points in front at 12-10. It stayed that way until the 70th minute when the Villagers exertions finally started to get the better of them and Wests capitalised with centre Leon Stewart crossing for another Wilson goaled try and with just seconds remaining full back Mason Opie-Palmer went in under the posts for Wilson to add his fourth goal to make it 24-10 which many felt didn't reflect the tremendous effort put in by the Villagers.
In an excellent all round team performance Ben Dyson-Dent took Heworth's Man of the match award.
The Villagers are on the road again next Saturday when they travel to Castleford to face Lock Lane.
Report - Dave Ward
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