Harrogate Pythons played their first home game of the season against recently promoted Bridlington. A well contested first half saw the score at 15-3 but the home side romped home 44-13 gaining 5 league points.
The opening exchanges were even with both sides dealing with some determined carries really well. Will Milnes and Adam Button held firm in mid field. James Goodard worked well with Joe Rowntree as half backs and got The Pythons moving the ball wide to both wingers with pace and balance, Connor Spence and Harry Brayshaw.
Ben Pryor kicks the ball through into the Brid 22. The full back hacks the ball into touch giving The Pythons a line out. The home side concede a penalty and then are marched 10m back for some verbals. The ref reverses the penalty, starting a bizarre referring performance, for some Brid verbals – Joe Rowntree kicks the penalty, 3-0. Brid tie the score with a penalty 3-3 on 20 mins.
Tom Baxter is forced at rearrange his side following a head injury to Godard bringing Joe Rowntree into 9. The Pythons continue with their controlled phase play with Marcus Fotherby and George Booth supporting Hugh Tatlow breaking the line. Max Sharp glides through the Brid defence taking play into their 22. Support from his pack Rhys Cory and Milnes retain the ball at the tackle. Jack Whiting takes the ball, steps the opposition but suffers a serious ankle injury as a result. Baxter rearranges once again. Brid were off side at the breakdown, Sharp drills the ball to 5m. Milnes takes the ball cleanly, the drive begins. Booth peels off and barges over for the score, J Rowntree adds the extras, 10-3 on 28 mins.
Marcel Kaminski and Joel Misseldine hit hard in the mid field halting The Brid offence. Fotherby supports a turn over in mid field, J Rowntree kicks into the 22 and Brayshaw shows his pace by winning the race to score. J Rowntree hits the upright with his conversion, 15-3 half time.
Early in the second half Tatlow charges beyond half way and a period of phase play begins. Cory and Fotherby both challenge the line but the refs halts the advance giving Brid a penalty at the breakdown. A spilled ball in the tackle on half way offers the Brid winger a chance to show his pace, 15 – 10 on 50 mins. Spurred on by the narrowing points gap Brid enter a determined period of play. The Pythons concede a breakdown penalty on their own 22 and the gap is narrowed even further, 15-13.
Spence tears up the touchline into the Brid half. Support from Booth then Sam Rowntree takes play beyond the home 10m line. Desperate defence yields a breakdown penalty and Joe Rowntree extends the lead, 18-13.
Clean line out ball on the Brid 10m line gives Sharp the ball he spots the gap brushing the defender aside with a deft hand off and races over to score, J Rowntree seldom misses, 25-13. Play remains in the away half with The Pythons now dominating the game. Set piece success once again gets the ball wide with some brisk accurate passing. The Brid centre knocks the ball to the ground with the try line open, penalty try and yellow card, 32-13. Fotherby secures line out ball and Rowntree gets the ball to Sharp to Tatlow who makes 40m and passes back to Sharp. Pryor continues the move, a ruck forms 2m out. Brid get the pen and clear their lines.
Pythons are quickly back with an attacking scrum on 5m. Totally dominating the set piece Rowntree spins the ball wide and ends up with Brayshaw to score his second, 37-13. Spence charges the ball back from the re start, Button feeds J Rowntree who releases Sharp racing through the middle. With Tatlow in support, Sharp dummies the defending full back (who surprisingly buys it) but decides to pass to Tatlow as the last defender approached. Tatlow races in from 22m, J Rowntree adds the extra, 44-13 full time. Joe Rowntree was awarded the Whittaker’s Distillery man of the match by Mainline Taxi’s John Monty Monaghan.
After the game, director of Rugby Tom Baxter said, “Really pleased with the outcome against Bridlington, even if the scoreline doesn’t fully show how much they tested us throughout. They put us under real pressure at times and asked plenty of questions of our defence, but our fitness, intent and ability to maintain intensity over the full 80 minutes made the difference.
Our ball retention and ability to generate quick ball were big positives, and defensively we stepped up a gear. The effort and commitment in those areas were particularly pleasing.” He added, “ There’s still plenty for us to work on, and the group is hungry to keep improving. The first couple of weeks have been encouraging, but the challenge now is producing those standards consistently. We’ve unfortunately picked up a few injuries, with Jack Whiting and Sam Beagrie facing time on the sidelines. Both are important to what we’re building, and we wish them speedy recoveries and look forward to seeing them back in a Pythons shirt.” He concluded.
The Pythons take on Goole this Saturday, kick off 2pm.
