.... they still contrived to lose by butchering several try scoring opportunities. Preston, who had a player red carded after 20 minutes, defended well throughout and the win dispelled their relegation fears.

An early high tackle on Callum Irvine gave Harrogate a penalty, an attacking line-out and Connor Ward drove strongly through the home defence. Preston’s defence went offside and Lewis Minikin’s penalty kick gave Harrogate an early lead. The pressure continued but Preston full back, Sean Taylor gathered a high ball under pressure and his incisive counter attack was carried on by winger Scott Jordan. Harrogate’s defence held out and a strong Noel Minikin break set up more Harrogate attacks with Jake Brady and Willem Enslin drives punching holes in the home defence. Preston’s defence contained strong Sam Bottomley runs until they went offside again and gave Lewis Minikin another successful penalty kick.

Home prop, Peter Altham was red carded for an off the ball punching offence so Preston were down to 14 men for the final hour’s play. Harrogate’s dominance continued and they crossed the goal line with a well controlled forward drive only to knock on when touching down. Near the interval, Preston made some rare visits to Harrogate’s half and Harrogate obliged by conceding 2 penalties which Taylor calmly converted into 6 points to level the scores at the break.

After the restart, Irvine made 2 over ambitious, long range drop goal attempts but Harrogate’s pressure continued. They again touched down over the home goal line but were penalised for obstructing a defender. The Preston clearance led to a midfield fumble, Harrogate went offside and Taylor’s kick, almost unbelievably, made it 9-6.

Harrogate’s attacks continued with Jonny Coser dominating the line-out and repeatedly winning ball in loose play. Forward drives took the ball over the home goal line 3 more times but they still failed to score. The ball was knocked on in the third attempt and a long Preston clearance led to a Harrogate midfield mix up and they were penalised for crossing. Taylor’s kick gave him a 100% scoring record and a Preston 12-6 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Harrogate continued to attack but Preston’s desperate defence held out for the rest of the match.

Preston Grasshoppers. S Taylor, Jordan, Reddick, Woof, Hough, Allen, Whyte, Peterson, Holmes, Altham, Mackenzie, Gale, Napier, Lees, Dew. Subs:- C Taylor, Madden, Tomlinson, Murray, Viney

Harrogate. Edwards, Bottomley, L Minikin, N Minikin, Barnard, Irvine, Matthews, Ward, Maycock, Reaveley, J Brady, S Brady, J Coser, G Coser, Enslin. Subs:- Yorke, Cutino, Heaton, Flett, Morgan.

Referee Chris Bennett (RFU)

Match report by Bill Barrack
Photos by David Aspinall