Hoppers were brought down to earth with a bump to end their unbeaten run at the hands of a confident Harrogate side. Disappointed coach Dave Baldwin said “We never got going and lost it in the first half. With tight defences, timing in the backs is split second and we failed to find any fluency. If the early try had been awarded, it might have been a different story.”
Hoppers almost had a dream start as a dropped ball was hacked through and the Hughes’s chased through but, with no defenders in sight, Tom was adjudged to be offside at the touch down.
Play was scrappy with both sides guilty of handling errors but the home side monopolised possession and looked sharper in attack and Hoppers again began to concede penalties. After a shot at goal went wide, ‘Gate’ opted for the touchline and the inevitable catch and drive put flanker Wilson over in the 11th minute and the kick was good.
The home backs continued to be more enterprising and tested the defence but it was the pack that extended the lead when open side Wood exploited an undefended blind side from a lineout to touch down in the corner after 29 minutes.
The home side were now well on top and from the restart, a break from fly half Aspinal produced a try for centre Dench and the conversion made it 17-0.
A little late in the day, Hoppers started to get into the game and Tom Hughes at last broke the line and Mark Edwards’ 35th minute penalty made it 17-3 at the break
Hoppers continued to infringe and once again failed to defend a 5-metre lineout and Wood was driven over for his second try to extend the lead and earn the bonus point with just 45 minutes on the clock.
Things took a turn for the worse for Hoppers as Luke Cunningham saw yellow and Rothwell kicked the penalty. But the pack responded with some driving play in which Matt Charters was prominent and his charge deep into the 22 allowed Richie Sands to muscle over for a try after 55 minutes.
Hoppers rang the changes from the bench, with replacement Marc Balshaw having an impact and probably shaded the final quarter. A trademark dart from Tom Ball came close but some loose handling in the backs again failed to make the most of the possession to produce a late score.
Some work needed before the visit of high-flying Leicester Lions next Saturday.
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