Muddy Middlesbrough edge out Harrogate 0-5

Late autumn sunshine greeted us once more at Claro Road but there was a chilly atmosphere at the club this morning as a cool wind blew in from the north just to remind us that Harrogate is not in the Med.

A leisurely stroll past pitch 1, the hallowed turf, reminds us of summer and possibly the distant plains of the Serengeti where wildebeest and zebra sweep graciously across the lush grasslands of Tanzania. Pitch 2 also takes us to far away distant climes of rich, luscious dreamy pastures. Keep on walking though and you are confronted with pitch 3.

Now, in summer, this windswept bowl of dust takes on the appearance of swarms of airborne locusts, but at this time of year it is where we keep the hippos. Indeed the initial pitch inspection normally throws up a couple of the blighters wallowing in the cooling mud towards the far corner of the pitch and today gave us ideal conditions for them cooling their blood, as hippos often do.

On mornings like these, a warm and crusty comestible is required to keep the spectators going throughout the warm ups and it was with great joy that we saw our very own master baker, Mr. Cozens appearing through the mud. Sadly he was pie-less but we were encouraged to see he had some large skewers in his hand so perhaps we were to be treated to a team-sized kebab? Alas not, as it appears these were actually the corner flags so maybe we should look elsewhere for sustenance? Today’s visitors were Middlesbrough, so maybe, just maybe they had imported some Parmos from Teesside…an inspection of the arriving players was, sadly, fruitless and more to the point, Parmo-less so in the end we had to give up and have a packet of extra strong mints to heat up.

For those not from the Teesside area, a Parmo is a somewhat filling delicacy possibly not featured on any of Jamie Oliver’s cooking programmes, so take a gander here http://parmos.co.uk/ to see what all the fuss is about.

Kick off today was to be an early one at 10.30 to allow for a minute’s silence at half time to commemorate Armistice Day, so with the hippos safely away to the bath in the changing rooms Mr Mackay troubled the pea in his whistle to start the match.

The first ten minutes were an even exchange of players slopping about in the soft conditions underfoot but the general direction of play saw Middlesbrough inching towards the Harrogate end of the pitch. Defence was reasonable up until a lineout 15m out from the Harrogate line saw the irrepressible Tom Burridge take the ball and storm the Harrogate line. Poor defence and a distinct lack of urgency from the Harrogate cover on the wing allowed Tom through to score to take Middlesbrough 5-0 up.

The remainder of the first half saw most of the play in the Harrogate half and the rearranged Harrogate scrum looked not quite up to the job for the first time this season with three lost with the head causing problems for Harrogate in defence. However, they stood firm and held the Middlesbrough attack at bay until half time when both teams lined up in the centre of the pitch for a well-observed minute’s silence.

The second half saw Harrogate’s pack strengthened in the engine room, taking good clean ball at the breakdown and in the scrums, although once again, lineouts were a patchy affair. The forwards upped their work rate and provided an excellent platform for the backs to pressure the Boro defence. Sadly, that was not to be the case as the hard work resulted too often in spilled ball, handing back the advantage to Middlesbrough and allowing a few sneaky forays into the Harrogate half. Finney’s boot was as keen as ever at neutralising those threats, and the forwards have to be commended for their spirit, skill and determination to edge Harrogate back with a chance to even up the score. Conditions were by now becoming much worse underfoot and the ball had all the handling characteristics of a creamy bar of Dove moisturising soap, which the players often dream of whilst in the thick of things. A few chances came Harrogate’s way as the forwards drove in well and set up several good phases of play, but the ball should have been kept in amongst them for longer to ensure a stronger attacking position.

Harrogate's strongest chance was when a well aimed kick through to the left wing saw Harrison Kersey barged off the ball just a metre short of the Middlesbrough line in a move which was lucky not to be penalised.

At full time the score was 0-5 to Middlesbrough after a slugged out slop around in the mud in a match which could quite easily have ended up a draw had it not been for a defensive lapse from Harrogate early on. It was time to chase the hippos off so the Boro lads could clean up (not something that the Harrogate players seem to want to do, preferring instead to transfer all those lovely soil micro-organisms from their hands, onto their post match burgers and into their stomachs to try to swing a day off school the following morning.

For Harrogate, Fraser Goulding was excellent in open play and Jed Carr was solid at scrum half in the first half. Joseph Hay was outstanding as was Damien Broadhurst and Rob Wiley had a solid game in the front row also. Harrogate missed the solid defence from Toby Hall in the centre of the field in the first half but he more than made up for that in the second half. Harrison Kersey was also quick and in good position all of the time to threaten Boro on the left wing and was desperately unlucky not to have scored.

Mr. Burridge Jr. was awarded the man of the match from a Harrogate perspective and for his troubles went back up the A19 with an Ellis Rugby (©) t-shirt with which to annoy his dad.

A couple of get well soon messages too, firstly to Chris Igoe who sustained concussion and a fractured eye socket early on in the match. Seeing double must be particularly troublesome for you at visiting time and you open your eyes to see 2 Noels at the bedside…

Good luck too to the very talented but sadly injured Sam Gaudie from Middlesbrough – we hope to see you back on the pitch as soon as you are better.

photos online at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/badgerxx/sets/72157625265898143/