Caldy 24 vs 17 Harrogate

They took the lead in the second half and had the bulk of the possession but 2 opportunistic Caldy tries were enough for them to win this exciting contest.

Harrogate made a mess of the Caldy kick-off and Caldy set up a driving maul from which Derek Salisbury drove over to score in the corner and Richard Vasey converted superbly. Even more seriously, Harrogate’s hooker, Steve Maycock sustained a badly broken arm in this early exchange and had to leave the field to be replaced by Aarin Yorke. Caldy soon went further ahead when a 15 metres driving maul took them to the Harrogate line and Salisbury scored another of his trademark tries.

Harrogate then raised their game and quality possession led to half backs, Danny Matthews and Joe Rowntree orchestrating attacks. Oli Denton and Kyle Dench featured strongly in these moves but their first score came from a Caldy penalty goal opportunity. The kick narrowly missed and Dench set up a counter attack which led to a Harrogate driving maul on the Caldy line. Dan Metcalfe burrowed over to score and Rowntree converted.

Caldy attacked from the restart and a dangerous move ended with them knocking on over the Harrogate goal line. Dench set up yet another Harrogate counter from deep but Caldy regained possession and put in a steepling midfield kick. Denton took the ball brilliantly but was taken out in mid air by Caldy flanker, Stuart Cross. Cross came off worst in this exchange and required lengthy treatment before he was fit enough to receive his yellow card.

Rowntree’s penalty kick made it 12-10 at the break.

Harrogate continued to take the game to Caldy in the second half with Dench and flanker, Rob Adair combining well. Caldy attacked from a quickly taken penalty but the Harrogate pack won turnover ball and Denton’s pace took him through the defence for an excellent try. Rowntree’s touchline conversion made it 12-17 and proved to be his swansong as he was then replaced by Callum Irvine.

Concerted Harrogate attacks followed but were contained by a well organized Caldy defence. Two Caldy tries in as many minutes then effectively decided the contest. First, a Caldy turnover gave them possession from which they kicked to the corner and John Broxson crashed over to score a converted try. Almost immediately, yet another turnover gave classy centre, Gavin Roberts enough space to cut through the Harrogate defence and score.

Although this ended the scoring, it certainly wasn’t the end of the excitement as Harrogate threw everything into trying to regain the lead. They were handicapped by further injuries including one to replacement hooker, Yorke. Adair has experience in this position and stood in admirably though he was naturally unfamiliar with the line-out calling system. A late Harrogate attack was halted by a high tackle and Caldy’s Sanders went to the sin bin. Harrogate continued to press but were unable to break the defence and a midfield dust up resulted in a yellow card for Dench at the final whistle.

Harrogate: Denton (N Minikin 65), L Minikin, Dench Edwards, Parrish, Rowntree (Irvine 52), Matthews, Metcalfe, Maycock (Yorke 1 then Spencer 65), Reaveley (Browne 40), Brady, Harvey, Smith, Adair, Heaton

Referee: Graham Dickens (RFU)

Match report by Bill Barrack