Harrogate Pythons RUFC beaten on the road at Keighley RUFC in first outing of 2026
Having ended 2025 with four consecutive home victories, Harrogate Pythons RUFC were beaten on the road in their first outing of the New Year.
The men from the Jim Saynor Ground ended up on the wrong end of a 43-19 score-line when they visited Keighley on Saturday afternoon.
But, they were actually in control of the contest until the 50-minute mark, when the home side sparked into life and ran in five unanswered tries.
And the way the match got away from the Pythons left coach John Liley to lament his players’ game management.
To come away with nothing was disappointing,” he said. “We just couldn't build on the platform that we had created for ourselves.
“We finished the first half on the front foot and went into the break with a narrow lead. Having increased our advantage to nine points with another try at the start of the second half, things were looking promising.
“For some unknown reason, we lost our grip on the game and struggled with any kind of game management.
“We will go away and learn from this experience and aim to bounce back to the form we were in before the Christmas break.”
The Pythons went 3-0 down on 10 minutes when the hosts kicked a penalty, but were ahead by the quarter-hour mark.
Freddie Abrahams tapped and went at a penalty and then popped a pass to Joel Misseldine, who broke through two attempted tackles to touch down. Ben Pryor added the extras for a 7-3 lead.
Keighley hit back with a try of their own to edge back ahead in the 25th minute, though it wasn’t long before the visitors reclaimed the ascendancy.
A high punt was gathered by Harry Jackson on halfway and, from the breakdown, Natsuki Barclay spotted Hugh Tatlow running across to the blind side and whipped a pass out to him.
The Pythons number eight then stepped two players and ran through the home full-back in the process of finishing from some 50 metres out.
Again, Pryor did the business with the conversion, to make the score 14-10 at the interval.
Straight from the kick-off at the start of the second period, Harry Smith intercepted a pass on his own 22 and raced 75 metres to score.
Seemingly in charge at 19-10, the Pythons then began to lose their grip, and Keighley went on to dominate the final half an hour, scoring five tries in the process.
Defeat sees ‘Gate drop one place to fifth in the Yorkshire One standings ahead of this Saturday’s home showdown with Old Rishworthian.