Rusty Hoppers go down to Harrogate

Hoppers finally got to play some rugby in 2010 but unfortunately lost their second consecutive away fixture in a physical contest that they could have won. This was the first game since December 12th and it showed throughout with plenty of mistakes and some unimaginative rugby.

The pack worked tirelessly and Hoppers had the best of both possession and territory, they were camped inside the Harrogate half for much of the second half but were unable to walk away with anything but a few penalty goals.

Both sides started the game at a good pace and looked to run the ball but there was a lengthy stoppage due to an injury to a Harrogate player. This seemed to disrupt the Hoppers as from the resulting 5m line out the home pack used the catch and drive to good effect and powered over the line, with prop Simon Davies touching down.

Harrogate then enjoyed a good series of possession inside Hoppers half but some resolute defence held them at bay. When Hoppers did get back into the game they showed flashes of what could have been. Tom Ball was a constant threat form scrum half and after a series of penalties he took a quick tap to advance the ball deep into Harrogate’s half. After yet another home infringement Alex Zavallis-Roebuck confidently slotted home the kick at goal to reduce the deficit to 5-3.

After weathering an initial attack Hoppers spent the remainder of the half camped deep in Harrogate territory with the pack beginning to dominate proceedings. Several set plays inside the home 22 came to nothing and Hoppers had to settle for a second Zavallis-Roebuck penalty just before the break to take them in with a slender lead.

The second half started in a similar vein with the game descending into a war of attrition. While both teams looked dangerous in loose play Harrogate reverted to a stifling kicking game and Hoppers for all the effort could not break down the home defence. The game started to develop an edge which was not helped by some dubious decisions and things reached boiling point 15 minutes in when a large fight broke off well away from the ball. This continued for some time with no official involvement and resulted in a yellow card for each team with Harrogate’s Harry Hannan and an unfortunate Jordan Pearson leaving the field for ten minutes.

Midway through the second half replacement Mark Edwards had a kick charged down with the ball landing straight into the hands of Harrogate wing Steve Parsons who was able to slip the first tackle and sprint 40m to the try line to retake the lead. Mike Aspinall added the conversion to give the home side a 12-6 lead.

Hoppers again put in considerable effort in search of points but they were unable to break down the home defence. Mark Edwards reduced the deficit with a well struck penalty just minutes after the home score but Harrogate were able to weather the storm and sneak win.