A dominant Harrogate forward display earned them their 3rd successive bonus point win. However a succession of errors, mainly from the backs, kept giving scoring opportunities to Huddersfield’s kicking machine, stand-off Chris Johnson. The result was in doubt right up to the final whistle.

Harrogate took an early lead when Ryan Peacey scored at the back of a driving maul. Huddersfield edged closer with the first of Johnson’s penalties but he soon showed that he was more than just a kicker. A well judged cross kick was delivered to him on the right wing and his try gave Huddersfield a 5-8 lead after 17 minutes.

The Harrogate pack dominated their opponents in all aspects of the game. Second row, James Spencer was in great form, well supported by his forward colleagues. However, an offside offence was punished by another Johnson penalty to give Huddersfield a somewhat flattering 5-11 lead.

Further Harrogate forward pressure followed and a driving maul resulted in Jake Brady scoring his debut try for the club to make the half time score 10-11.

For the second time in 4 weeks, Harrogate had difficulty in satisfying Mr Fitzmaurice’s interpretation of the laws and a third Johnson penalty extended Huddersfield’s lead. Concerted Harrogate attacks followed but three-quarter handling errors and a strong Huddersfield defence kept them from scoring. Eventually, Mike Aspinall broke through the midfield and was held up just short of the line. The ball was recycled to Ed Smithies who scored his 100th league try for Harrogate.

He is only the 6th person to have achieved this feat in the National Leagues and joins a distinguished list of players. It was particularly fitting that the try was scored against his home town Club.

Yet another Johnson penalty followed to restore Huddersfield’s lead but the Harrogate pack continued to control the game and provide good attacking ball. Aspinall got Harrogate’s bonus point try after another scything midfield break and kicked the conversion to make it 22-17.

The pattern of Harrogate dominance and Johnson penalties continued. He was successful with 1 more to make the final score 22-20.

Harrogate: Smithies, McGee, Bottomley, Dench, C Harris (Broadley 50), Aspinall, Wickham, Browne (Sowery 50), Yorke, McMillan (Davies 75), Brady (Heaton 75), Peacey (Wilson 55), Maslaveckas, Lewis

Huddersfield: Owen, Ryder, van Vuuren, Paxman, Sutcliffe, Johnson, Hinchcliffe, Slater, Davies, Stringwell, Rhodes, B Harris, Sharp, Whtehead, Hyde

Referee: Brendan Fitzmaurice (RFU)