YORK RUFC were left reflecting on an afternoon of missed tackles as they were beaten 28-18 by Heath in Yorkshire One.

The Clifton Parkers paid for a lack of aggression up front which allowed the visitors to easily win 50-50 possession.

York started brightly enough but Heath were soon on the attack and, after several phases of play, wing Callum Harriet-Brown broke a couple of tackles to score out wide.

Mark Sales missed the conversion but, almost immediately afterwards, slotted a penalty as Heath went 8-0 up. He added another three points with a drop goal in front of the post and, after 22 minutes, it was 11-0.

York were asleep and, to culminate an awful 15 minutes for York coach Lee Denham and his players, more missed tackles allowed hooker Mark Puttick to outpace the defence and score.

Half an hour was on the clock before York managed to put together any sustained pressure. Good pack work allowed the ball to be spun wide and George Davies scored in the corner.

York kept on the pressure for the remainder of the first half but could not get any reward, despite Heath being down to 14 men for the last five minutes when full-back Cameron Ramsden was yellow carded for deliberate offside, and they trailed 18-5 at the break.

The Clifton Parkers did come out fighting on the restart and prop Dan Coe forced himself over to reduce the gap to 18-10 and briefly put York back into the game.

Heath, however, easily found themselves again in the York half.

A scrum 35 yards out had the York pack moving Heath backwards but the visiting number eight, Darren Neilly, picked up the ball and passed to Sales, who shipped it on to centre Ezra Hinchcliffe.

He easily broke two despairing York tackles to score and Sales' conversion extended Heath's lead to 25-10.

York did respond and barrelled their way into the Heath half. An infringement by the forwards allowed Jon Dawes to score a penalty from 28 yards. They then reduced the deficit to 25-18 when York managed to spread the ball wide and Davies grabbed his second try of the afternoon in the corner.

The Clifton Parkers were on the front foot but, from the resulting kick-off, the ball was dropped. Heath gained a foothold which they would not relinquish for the next ten to 15 minutes.

York cleared and held their lines but Heath were soon back on the attack and the pressure they put on resulted in them picking up a penalty for a high tackle. From 35 metres out, Sales, who had been dictating the game all afternoon, made no mistake and sealed a 28-18 win.