Billingham fielded a remarkable combination of brothers with two Hyndmans, two Shepherds and four Evans players in the side.

From the start, Harrogate’s powerful pack took control and a 15 metre driving maul led to Tim Heaton diving over to score in the corner. Callum Irvine’s attempted conversion rebounded off the goalpost but he soon increased the home lead with a penalty kick following a Billingham offside offence. Another surging Harrogate drive seemed to have put Heaton over again but he unaccountably lost possession while touching down.

Harrogate then started to play more expansive rugby but were thwarted by a strong Billingham defence. An Anthony Hyndman midfield break seemed to have created a Billingham try but the cover defence managed to stop the move. Visiting scrum half, Andy Evans, was yellow carded for a blatant offside offence but, despite being down to 14 men, a Pete Evans penalty gave Billingham their first points of the match.

More Billingham attacks led to Harrogate being penalised for a breakdown offence and another Evans penalty goal. Continued Billingham pressure led to Harrogate’s Kyle Dench being sin binned for a high tackle and Evans’s penalty put the visitors 8-9 ahead. A strong right wing run from Will Turnbull was then well supported by Andy Evans whose try, converted by his brother gave Billingham their half time lead.

A fired up Harrogate side attacked from the restart to stretch the Billingham defence and Noel Minikin broke clear to score in the right corner. The pressure continued and ever more desperate Billingham defence led to yellow cards in quick succession for Chris Hyndman & Dave Robinson. A try from Harrogate’s new skipper, Jimmy Browne, restored the home lead though Irvine’s conversion unluckily bounced off the upright again.

Controlled Harrogate forward pressure followed and Browne scored his second try, converted by Irvine. The home domination continued for the final quarter and quality ball was released to the backs. Debutant centre, Pete Wackett, took full advantage of the extra space for two well taken tries but Billingham continued to battle spiritedly. Two successive penalties gained them valuable yardage and Chris Hyndman’s pace took him through Harrogate’s defence for the game’s final try.

Harrogate: Denton, Ellison, Dench, Wackett, Minikin, Irvine, Wickham, Browne, Maycock, Innes, Harvey, Lewis, Brady, Heaton, Spencer, Aspinall, Metcalfe, Johnson

Billingham: P Evans, Turnbull, A Hyndman, C Hyndman, C Shepherd, J Evans, C Evans, Smith, Amos Hutchinson, Rumis, Dalton, P Shepherd, Robinson, M Evans, Reay, Tennant, Finney

Referee: Charl Erasmus (North)

Match report by Bill Barrack
Photos by David Aspinall and Richard Bown