Harrogate Pythons travelled to South Yorkshire to face league favourites Wath Upon Dearne on a heavy pitch. Although dominating the first half Wath come back hard to take the game 41-16.Pythons were quickly on the attack forcing Wath to concede a penalty. Max Sharp drills the ball into the Wath 22. Hugh Tatlow takes clean line out ball and the forward pack drive to within 5m of the Wath line – penalty Wath and they clear their lines. Wath knock on and Pythons win their scrum. Freddie Abrahams gathers at the back of the scrum and feeds supporting Tatlow. A determined carry into the Wath 22 earns the Pythons a penalty. Ben Pryor takes the points, 0-3. Wath are again caught off side, Sharp kicks into the 22, Tatlow secures the line out, Abrahams sends the ball into the midfield for Pryor and Sam Rowntree to drive forwards. A ruck on the Wath 5m line is halted as the muddy ball squirts out and Wath clear.The Pythons defence holds firm despite some strong carries for the home side’s big back row. Harry Butler and Will Milnes tackle hard to halt the advance. Wath earn a penalty, 3-3 on 8 mins. The Pythons attack again, Sharp threads the ball across the greasy surface forcing the Wath full back to carry the ball into touch. The Pythons line out works well again, George Booth, Butler and Rowntree all drive together but are held short. The referee gives The Pythons a 5m scrum, Abrahams whips the ball to Jack Whiting bringing Pryor into the attack and Wath are caught off side in front of the posts, Pryor kicks, 3-6.Wath are back on the attack but the determined tackling from Rhys Cory, Pryor, Whiting keep them out. Frustration leads to Wath getting penalised and Sharp clears to the Wath 22. Once again The Pythons secure good line out ball. Abrahams controls the phases feeding Milnes who drives closer, off loads to Abrahams feeding Whiting who breaks the line feeds back to Abrahams who off loads to Sharp to crash over the line. Pryor adds the extras, 3-13 on 35 mins. Wath score on the stroke of half time, 10-13.
Wath kick an early penalty, 13-13 and follow with a kick and chase try, 20-13. Pryor narrows the gap, 20-16. With the light fading and the two sides becoming indistinguishable in the mud, Wath’s experienced powerful pack controlled the last 10 minutes of the game scoring 3 more tries, 41-16 FT.
After the game 1st XV Manager Will Clough said, ” A game of two halves really. Disappointing to go in at half time only 3 points ahead having managed the game so well and been so dominant for large parts of the first half, I feel like we deserved better and on another day, the score could have looked very different. We struggled to assert ourselves in the second half and just couldn’t get a foothold in the game. We got dragged into a slugfest against a very physical team on a heavy pitch and the game just got away from us. There’s plenty of positives to take from the performance and we’ll do what we need to do in the week to get back to winning ways next week.”
The Pythons next game is at home to recently promoted Yarnbury.
Try Highlights:
Interview with Hugh and Harry: