Early home pressure had Harrogate on the back foot and Macc raced into a 14-0 lead after 10 minutes. Macc had the advantage of a strong tail wind in the first half which ended with them 21-7 ahead. Harrogate looked to take similar advantage in the 2nd half but , clinically efficient Macclesfield play took them from their own 22 to the Harrogate goal line to score another killer converted try. Harrogate continued to compete in a high quality match but the better side on the day won the match.

Harrogate were on the back foot from unrelenting early pressure and tries from No 8, Daffyd Rees and centre, Harry Oliver were converted by Will Davies. Referees at this level are seriously handicapped by not having assistant referees and there were early manifestations of this difficulty. At the tail of a line-out, Harrogate’s Steve Maycock was penalised for careless use of the feet but, at the same time, blatant shenanigans were going on at the front which he couldn’t see. Shortly afterwards, on the opposite wing, Harry Jukes broke clear but the move was stopped by a touch judge wrongly signalling for a foot in touch. The referee did then require the home Touch Judge to be replaced but the damage was done.

A highly competitive phase of play followed with Martin Dodds winning crucial turnovers for Harrogate to launch attacks. Jukes again broke clear on the left but yet another “foot in touch” decision ended the move. Grafting Harrogate forward play followed featuring Andy Boyde, Sam Brady, Jonny Coser, Hugo Tasker and Maycock. Good ball was spread and Olly Rosillo made several trademark breaks from full back. A well judged Harry Yates pass found Jukes on the wing and, this time, there was no stopping him from sprinting clear for a great 40 metres try converted by Sam Fox. Approaching half time and having played into a strong head wind, a 14-7 deficit didn’t seem too bad. However, a well constructed Macc backs move ended with a good converted try for winger, Myles Hall.

From the start of the second half, Harrogate mounted attacks but Macc counter attacked and took play up to the Harrogate line. A defensive knock-on led to a Macc attascking scrum and Jordan Simpson powered over to score a bonus point winning converted try. Harrogate continued to compete strongly but the home defence managed to contain the attacks until a succession of Harrogate attacking scrums led to a driving maul from which Brady crashed through for a converted try. The final try came from a quickly taken Macc line-out from which 2nd Row, Josh Redfearn wrong footed the defence for a 20 metres try.

Macclesfield: Davies, Lomax, H Oliver, Broster, Hall, Morton, Stelmaszek, King, Moss, Robinson, Harding, Redfearn, J Oliver, Simpson, Rees. Subs:- Percival, Thor, Laing

Harrogate: Rosillo, Barnard, Knowles, Fox, Jukes, Yates, Matthews, Boyde, Yorke, Maycock, Brady, Hannam, Dodds, Tasker, Coser. Subs:- Doherty, Larder, Martin

Referee: Elliot Lewis

Match report by Bill Barrack