An early Ali Chalmers penalty kick put Harrogate into the lead and this was soon followed by a converted try from No8, Ryan Peacey, making a welcome return after a long injury lay-off. This was followed by 7 more points when Jamie Broadley finished a multi phased three-quarter move with a fine try.

Harrogate were then penalised for holding and Manchester’s stand-off kicked the straightforward 3 points. More Harrogate attacks followed but, in spite of being outclassed, Manchester showed commendable spirit and never stopped trying. Harrogate continued to play attacking rugby and upped the tempo still further when Manchester’s scrum-half, Connolly, was sin binned for illegal obstruction. The final try of the half came from flanker, Tim Heaton, another player coming back from a sidelining injury and he clearly showed how much he’d been missed.

Further Harrogate changes, after the interval, didn’t alter the pattern of the match and the backs ran through their moves with plenty of good ball being provided by a dominant front five. More tries followed from the outstanding James Rothwell and his wing colleague, Rob Almond. The next major event was the sin binning of Harrogate’s prop Benjamin Innes, but they continued to dominate and mount attacks in his absence.

A penalty try was then awarded against Manchester for repeatedly collapsing driving mauls and Sam Bottomley showed strength and guile to burst through for the next try. Rothwell had taken over the goal kicking when Chalmers was substituted at half time and his conversion made it 3-48.

Manchester then put Harrogate under some pressure with a sustained attacking spell but the visitors counter attacked from defence. Broadley ran strongly then put in a clever chip kick which Rothwell followed up to score and convert. The game’s final try followed a sniping run by scrum-half, Tom Bugge, converted by Rothwell.

Harrogate : Chalmers, Rothwell, Broadley, Bottomley, Audsley-Beck, Dench, Bugge, Innes, Maycock, Browne, Brady, Lodge, Heaton, Beaumont. Subs:- Almond, Carmichael, Wilson, Weaving, Watt.

Referee: Will Halford (RFU)

Match Report by Bill Barrack
Photos by David Aspinall