South Leicester vs Harrogate

Harrogate’s forwards have been their biggest strength this season and they again competed strongly against one of the best packs in the League. However, a much improved backs performance gives real hope for the future. Forwards Coach, Andy Boyde foresees that “we’re on the verge of giving somebody a real stuffing very soon”.

Harrogate took the game to South from the start and debutant stand-off, Sam Fox narrowly missed with a long range penalty attempt. The pressure continued and, when Leicester’s defence came in from the side at a ruck, Fox’s penalty opened Harrogate’s account. However, they made a mess of dealing with the restart kick to put themselves under pressure and go offside in defence. Rickie Aley’s kick equalised the scores. Jonny Coser then stole a Leicester line-out to provoke a violent reaction from home hooker, Dale Ager. The expected red card didn’t materialise and he was extremely lucky to escape with a 10 minutes visit to the sin bin.

Half backs Fox and Danny Matthews sparked off creative Harrogate back play with strong running from Keane Naylor, Harry Barnard, Olly Rosillo and Doc Doherty. In his 100th first team game, Noel Minikin gave another solid centre display. Leicester’s first back attack came from a powerful midfield break from centre, Will Cave. Harrogate regained possession near the goal line and Barnard ran strongly out of defence to clear the danger. However, the home pressure continued, Harrogate’s defence went offside and Aley’s kick put Leicester 6-3 ahead.

Leicester continued to attack but outstanding Harrogate forward defence withstood a series of driving mauls. Another strong Cave run ended with what seemed to be a scoring pass but winger, Blane Howe was tackled into touch in the corner. A Keane break from defence found Doherty in support on half way and he took the pass to outstrip the defence for a 50 metres converted try. This made it 6-10 but Leicester won a penalty from an offside offence to make it 9-10 at the interval.

The third quarter proved to be Leicester’s best period of the match as they mounted sustained pressure. A Harrogate defensive fumble led to a home attacking scrum from which the ball was released to Cave and an uncharacteristic missed tackle led to him scoring a converted try. The home pressure continued and, when Harrogate were penalised for holding, Aley’s kick made it 19-10.

From then onwards, Harrogate were in the driving seat forcing Leicester into desperate defence against sustained driving mauls. Hooker Aarin Yorke was at the heart of these attacks with great support from the rest of the pack. Eventually, quickly released ball found Minikin in support to score a fine try in his 100th match.

Leicester’s defence was under severe pressure for the remaining 10 minutes but managed to hold out to record a narrow win.

South Leicester: Gunn, Howe, Cooke, Cave, Bean, Aley, Shaw, Warren, Ager, Holford, Wolfended, Ward, Cope, Cairns, Turner. Subs:- McLaurin, Cheney, Murray, McNaughton, Gibbs

Harrogate: Doherty, Barnard, Naylor, Minnikin, Rosillo, Fox, Matthews, Purkiss-McEndoo, Yorke, Dennis,
J Brady, S Brady, J Coser, G Coser, Harvey. Sub used:- Reaveley

Referee: Tom Davies (RFU)

Match report by Bill Barrack