Full House for Aspinall

In a highly competitive match Harrogate turned the form book upside down and were actually in the lead till the 6th minute of the second half.

However, the constant Loughborough pressure forced Harrogate mistakes at crucial times and they left without even the bonus point which their efforts had merited.

Harrogate took the game to Loughborough from the start and tested their defensive organisation. This forced a home offside offence and a Mike Aspinall put the visitors in the lead after 15 minutes. A George Drake penalty for the Students evened the score but sloppy Harrogate play then gave a try away. A loose ball was snapped up by Loughborough centre Nathan Lambden who dived over in the corner.

Harrogate continued to mount attacks from a solid forward platform in both scrums and lines-out. Loughborough just managed to contain dangerous breaks from Steve Parsons, Kyle Dench and Aspinall. The pressure eventually told and Aspinall tucked in behind a forward drive to score. His touchline conversion to put Harrogate 2 points ahead at the interval.

A smartly taken Aspinall drop goal extended Harrogate’s lead shortly after the interval but Drake soon replied in kind to restore the 2 point difference. Harrogate continued to attack but 2 successive errors gave away another try. A Loughborough clearing kick was badly knocked on and the ball was hacked upfield. The second error was a goal line fumble from which home centre Owen Lewis scored under the posts.

More Harrogate attacks followed but they were thwarted by sound Loughborough defence which forced handling errors from the visitors. The final score was a fine individual effort from the Students’ No8, Phil Burgess. He burst through some uncharacteristically weak tackling at the base of a scrum and powered under the posts from 20 metres.

The game ended with still more Harrogate attacks and they can count themselves unlucky for failing to breach the strong home defence and earn a bonus point. It was great to see a game of rugby played after such a long lay-off and the Loughborough Ground Staff had worked wonders to produce a good playing surface.

Loughborough Students: Fouracre, Walsh, Lambden, O Lewis, Munro, Drake, Prygos, Berry, Thomas, Parilli, Aston, Warden, Taylor, Reeves, Burgess

Harrogate: Smithies, McGee, Bottomley (Harris 15), Dench, Parsons, D Davies, Aspinall, Browne (Harland 70), Hannan (Yorke 55), S Davies (McMillan 50), Spencer, Brady (Boyle 63), Sowerey, Heaton, M Lewis

Referee: John Meredith (RFU)

For more pictures from the match courtesy of © Phil Hutchinson © go to:

http://sportingportraits.fotopic.net/c1804817.html