Harrogate 22 Chester 16
Saturday 12 October 2024

Harrogate secured their first victory of the season with a narrow win over Chester.

As soon as the referee blew his whistle, the heavens opened. However, this did not deter Chester who made a fast start.

In the 2nd minute, Tom Ellis crossed for an unconverted try. Then, in the 10th minute, following a cross-field grubber kick, Dafydd Williams made the score 10 – 0, though the extras were missed again. Chester went further ahead 5 minutes later through a Morgan Bagshaw penalty.

Harrogate got back into the game just before half-time. After a period of sustained pressure, Fred Chell on his debut scored the try that Tom Steene converted.

The heavy rain continued after half-time. Nonetheless, Harrogate took the lead 8 minutes into the second half. Following forward pressure, Will Hill crossed for Tom Steene to convert. However, Chester went back in the lead 2 minutes later through another Morgan Bagshaw penalty when Harrogate were reduced to 14 men as Tom Steene received a foul play yellow card for a high tackle.

Chester also went down to 14 shortly after when Thomas Furnival was yellow-carded for a similar offence. Although Oli Toomey had a drop-goal attempt charged down, play was brought back and he took advantage with a penalty in the 54th minute.

Harrogate made sure of victory in the 67th minute. Sam Shepherd burrowed over for his first try for the Club, but the extras were missed. Nonetheless, Gate held out as the sun re-appeared.

Harrogate therefore travel to Fylde next week with renewed confidence, kick-off at 3pm.

Teams:

Harrogate: Morley, Sharma, Miller, Chell, Abram, Steene, Pettitt, Percival, Head, Maycock, Russell, Brady (c), Challis, Richardson, Hill.

Replacements: Fretwell, Richmond, Shepherd, Toomey, Taylor.

Chester: Hayes, Heaton, McMinimee, Hamilton, Williams, Bagshaw, Ellis, Woods, Hanson, Furnival, Powell, Wilkinson, Jones (c), Roberts, Owen.

Replacements: Robson, Sanderson, Deehan, Spalding, Craven.

Referee: Peter Connor (RFU)

Assistant Referees: Simon Lazenby (RFU)
Don Helme (RFU)

Tim Thorley
Harrogate RUFC
13 October 2024