Heavy Defeat for the Heath

A heavy defeat for the Heath on Weds night (12th Feb) makes it 3 defeats on the trot since the home win over Wellington at the end of January as we went down 7-2 at home to an excellent Tavistock side. It was always going to be a tough ask for a youthful Heath line-up, missing several players, against an in-form Tavistock side going well in the league but the Heath were heavily punished on a night where despite not much going right there were a few bright moments. There were a number of changes to the line-up caused by availability and injuries, with Ross Moorhead starting at right back, Dan Winstone switching back to left back and Nathan Hewitt and Reece Rogers in central defence infront of Ollie Jones in goal. Simon McElroy returned to right midfield with Kris Lee partnering Lewis Hedges in the centre and George Boon (captaining the side in the absence of Joe Woodley) on the left wing. Ethan Tucker returned to the starting line-up to partner Danny Carter with Lewis Saunders and Archie Parry on the bench.
The visitors took the lead after only 2 minutes when a free header from a corner was buried into the Heath net, although the Heath responded well with an equalised after 6 minutes from Ross Moorhead (his first of the season) where he drilled into the bottom far corner after a long deep cross evaded everyone and found him at the far post. The game was fairly entertaining with some end to end action that saw the visitors carve out the clearer chances (with Ollie Jones saving well on a couple of occasions) but the Heath still working hard to create the odd half chance, with a Danny Carter flicked header finding the Tavistock keeper well placed and some probing crosses from George Boon just evading the Heath strikers. The visitors started to get hold of the game as the first half progressed and duly took the lead in the 38th minute, cruelly extending their lead to 3-1 right on half time when a ball over the top was collected by a Tavistock striker who expertly lobbed Ollie Jones.
The 2nd half started brightly with the Heath pushing for a goal back and Tavistock trying to kill the game with a fourth with Ross Moorhead almost pulling one back for the Heath in the 58th minute when he was found on the edge of the 6-yard box but his side-footed effort was well saved by the Tavistock keeper. Critically, only a minute later the visitors took the game by scoring a fourth from a Heath OG. Tavistock extended their lead in the 69th and 80th minutes making the score 6-1. Lewis Saunders and Archie Parry both came off the bench for the Heath but the night got worse when striker Danny Carter was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on the Tavistock full back, it was late but straight red card seemed harsh. Archie Parry provided a bright spot in the 89th minute when he pulled a goal back for the Heath with a well taken strike, his first goal for the Reds, but Tavistock scored almost immediately from the kick off to make the final score 7-2.
A tough night for the Heath but another learning big lesson for our young side - we'll come good, keep the faith.
We're back in action on Saturday (15th Feb) when we make the short trip away to Chipping Sodbury Town in the league, kick off 3pm. Keep an eye on Twitter as this game could well be at risk due to the dire weather forecast for this weekend.
UP THE HEATH