A strong side was selected for this fixture and it was evident from the first scrum that the gate pack had the edge in the set piece unceremoniously shunting the Southend pack off their ball, the front row of Boothy Charlie and making a welcome return after almost two years out Maycock back as hooker dominated their opposite numbers.

After a frenetic opening spell where both teams looked to spin it wide Daz Cassidy forced a turnover and with Danny Matthews quick to launch a counter attack and Charlie Morgan kicking intelligently it gave Bekky the chance to out muscle the defence and touch down out wide.

If the scrums were firing on all cylinders the lineout still needs some work, Southend used their front jumper well to disrupt a number of throw ins.

Another score followed after a great flowing move finished off by Charlie Morgan that had the crowd in good spirit but then on two successive occasions Southend used their big ball carriers to great effect and the Harrogate tackling was too high allowing the opponents to get leg drive and make about 15 metres by which time our defensive line was in retreat and they scored two well taken tries.

A third well taken try for Southend from their lively 9 briefly saw them take the lead only for Sam Thomas cross the line after some great interplay between backs and forwards offloading at pace and almost saw Steve Maycock score the quick ball and a clever inside ball by Charlie to Sam to finish.

In the second half a penalty try forced from a dominant gate attacking scrum when a push over was inevitable and shorty after following some sustained pressure a gap opened up for Sam Beagrie to cross the whitewahsh.

The champagne moment of the game and contender for the season saw turnover of Southend ball in our 22, Darren Cassidy reacted quickest fly hacked on and Charlie PM then fly hacked another 3 times as he outstripped the entire Southend back line to win the race to touch down out wide fully 70m away - incredible gas for a prop after 79 mins of play.

Hull Ionians will be another level up again but the spirit within the squad is fantastic, the early season rustiness is wearing off and we are improving game by game but there is still a lot to do before the league starts v Otley in September.