Moortown Victory

The U13's took on fellow Yorkshire Cup quarter finalists Moortown, on the traditionally muddy junior pitch in North Leeds. In fact the mud wasn't the only traditional element, as once again Garry Irvine stepped up to referee this fixture. Thanks for that Garry, not easy without whistle for the first 10 minutes. Playing downhill in the 1st half Harrogate had the lions share of possession. The pack were dominant, called some great running lines (Harry Willard and Jacob Garrett), and supported well in the loose. There were some new faces in both backs and forwards, as U13's took this as an opportunity to give the majority of the squad some game time. Henry Stubbs commanded things well at scrum half, and as tries were scored out wide, Harrogate went into the break 5-0 up. It might have been more, had Freddie Bentley not been taken out in the air, after catching a lovely Ben Irvine cross field kick. The second half saw further changes, as Harrogate managed to get game time for all of their 22 travelling players. There were some good attacks out wide from Issac Hall and Ben Calvert, with Will Brown working hard at No.8. In fact the ball made it out to the wings repeatedly as Ben and Danny Dexter spun it out wide. The final changes saw the U13's under pressures though, as Moortown rallied in the closing stages. They scored late on, and could have gone over for a second, but the Harrogate defence held firm. A good performance in tricky conditions. Well done Ben for admitting he didn't ground the ball properly, and therefore he shouldn't be awarded a try. A special mention though should go to Felix Nimmo and Fred Yates. Despite not being selected for the fixture, they travelled all the way to Leeds in full kit. That's dedication and support for your fellow team mates..... Parents remember to check Pitchero, training Wednesday (fingers crossed) and then Yorks Cup Sunday.