Harrogate Pythons 1st XV travelled to a sunny Beverley following an early morning pitch inspection. Beverley score 3 early tries to lead 17-0, Pythons fight back to 17-17 with the game finishing 27-22. Pythons secure 2 valuable league points advancing them one position to 7th. Within 25 minutes of the start Pythons were down 3 tries. Beverley took advantage of the away team’s seemingly lack of concentration and piled on the pressure. The home line was threatened a number of times with some hard runs from Harry Butler and George Booth but strong defence from a determined Beverley kept them at bay. Following pressure in the home 22, Max Sharp burst through the opposition to open The Python’s account, Ben Pryor adding the 2, 17-7 on 30 mins. Quickly back on the offensive, Harry Smith got his back line creating chances in the 22. Harry Jackson was pulled down 10m out but managed an off load to returning Bailey Bromberg to use his speed, strength and determination to score in the corner, 17-12 – half time.
An attacking line out early in the second half sees Marcus Fotherby secure the ball. A well set up drive marches The Pythons forwards towards the line. Joel Misseldine spots an open blind side and charges over to level the scores, 17-17.
Beverley race through to score taking the lead back, 24-17. The Pythons apply pressure with some controlled play within 10m of the home line. Beverley concede scrums, penalties – Eddy Wilkinson is held up short, Butler just short, Hugh Tatlow and Booth all held back. With the scrum half tied up in the ruck, Smith picks at the base of the breakdown and dives over into the corner, 24-22 , Pryor just shaving the upright on the wrong side. With seconds left Beverley are awarded a penalty and cleverly kick for goal to run the clock down. Full time 27-22.
After the game, Coach John Liley said, “ We still couldn’t get over the line to record our first away league victory but still managed to return home with 2 losing bonus points. It was another deja vu moment where we have gifted the opposition an early advantage and have had to work hard to recover and provide ourselves with the chance of a victory. Having gone 17-0 down we addressed certain part of our game to get the game back to 17-17. We need to remain patient and stick to our game plan in order in to see the game through in our favour. Whilst it was frustrating not to record the victory, that we were certainly capable of achieving, we have still improved on last year’s result that has been the case in the majority of our games this year. We still remain confident of reaching the goals we set at the start of the season. “
