An attritional game on a heavy pitch saw Huddersfield run out 21 – 12 winners, and push Harrogate closer to the relegation trapdoor.
Huddersfield started the game on the attack, and from a penalty on halfway kicked into Gate’s 22. Winning the lineout, their forward drive saw Ed Brown go over for the opening score, converted by Will Milner.
Harrogate responded and forced a Huddersfield dropout in the 14th minute. Shortly after, Greg Jones won a penalty lineout close to Huddersfield’s line, and Sam Brady scored in the left hand corner. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed.
Both sides tried to run the ball in difficult conditions, but with handling not being easy, play was generally confined to between the 22s.
In the 36th minute, following a bout of positional kicking, Harrogate was caught offside on their own 10 metre line. Milner’s penalty kick just cleared the crossbar to make the halftime score 10 – 5 in Huddersfield’s favour.
Play in the second half was similar to the first. Huddersfield scored an early unconverted try in the right hand corner through Ethan Myers following 2 penalties conceded by Harrogate.
In the 48th minute, Ben Raubitschek broke from halfway to Huddersfield’s 22, but strong defence and a dropped pass brought the move to an end. Nonetheless, Harrogate reduced the deficit in the 56th minute when Tom Baxter drove over for a try converted by Tom Steene.
However, with 10 minutes to go, Milner extended Huddersfield’s lead from a penalty, before Harrogate thought they had driven over with just 5 minutes left. Unfortunately, the ball was deemed held up and not grounded, resulting in a goal line dropout.
Milner then completed the scoring with his third penalty in the final minute.
Teams
Harrogate: Macnab, Scrase, Rawlinson, Buckley, Yates, Steene, Raubitschek, Elsayed, Ridgway, Baxter, Jones, Brady (c), Jackson, Walker, Spencer-Jones. Replacements: Percival, Peace, Fenn, Hill, McDonald-Rodriguez.
Huddersfield: Hodson, Stewart, Law, Barber, Workman, Milner, Potter, Thompson, Myers, Rollins, Pearson, Brown, Parfitt, Bradley (c), Jennings. Replacements: Effiom, Stapley, Wilson.
Referee: Ben Davis (RFU)
Tim Thorley
Harrogate RUFC
20 March 2023
