They’ve all been away matches and, although the previous two have featured last minute Harrogate recoveries, this time it was Birmingham’s turn to come back from the dead in the 9th minute of injury time.

Power play from Willem Enslin, Lewis Boyce, Jake Brady and Tom Harvey featured in early Harrogate forward domination. This enabled the backs to strut their stuff though the treacherous underfoot conditions led to inevitable mistakes. A Bees offside offence led to debutant Full-Back Jon Dawes kicking Harrogate into the lead. An excellent line kick from Birmingham’s Adam Canning then forced Harrogate into a defensive line out from which they were penalised for not releasing. Canning’s kick evened the score.

Harrogate conceded another penalty which led to a Bees attacking line out. They set up a driving maul and 2nd Row Chris Goddard crashed over to score. Canning converted and soon further extended the lead with a penalty kick. A dazzling right wing run from Harrogate’s Cam Leadley followed a Callum Irvine midfield break and Luke Edwards finished the move by scything through for a converted try.

The slippery conditions made Birmingham’s kicking game an effective tactic but Harrogate persisted with creative backs play. A try seemed inevitable from an incisive Sam Bottomley break but the move was ended by an accidental offside. A difficult penalty kick was narrowly missed by Dawes in the final move of the half but he levelled the scores soon after the interval. Concerted Harrogate attacks had forced the desperate Bees defence to go offside.

The Harrogate pressure continued but Canning made a brilliant interception followed by a 30 metres break. A great covering tackle forced a knock-on just short of the line and Bees were awarded a 5 metres scrum. Powerful Harrogate scrummaging then drove Birmingham backwards and forced them into conceding a penalty.

The home pressure continued but a Dawes tackle forced their left winger into touch with the line apparently a t his mercy. A huge Danny Matthews clearance then relieved the pressure and Harrogate went on to the attack. Replacement prop, Ben Hepworth featured strongly in tight and open play as Harrogate set up waves of attacks.

On the stroke of full time, Bottomley forced his way over on the left and Joe Rowntree’s touchline conversion put Harrogate into a seemingly unassailable lead. However, Mr Turvey allowed a further 9 minutes of stoppage time and a quickly taken Bees penalty led to Goddard’s second try and Canning’s equalising conversion.

Birmingham Solihull: Evans, Giles, Oliver, Connolly, A Smith, Canning, Jolly, Koziot, Crane, Bingham, Dacres, Goddard, Stephens, Forder, Leach. Used Substitutes Dunn, Gregg, Biggs, Petty.

Harrogate: Dawes, Leadley, Bottomley, Edwards, Audsley-Beck, Irvine, Matthews, Boyce, Yorke, Reaveley, Brady, Harvey, Wilson, N Smith, Enslin. Substitutes (all used) Rowntree, N Minikin, Hepworth, Nyemba, Aspinall

Referee: Matt Turvey (Northern)

Match report by Bill Barrack

Click HERE for match photos from Neil Tunney