Harrogate Pythons RUFC 'clearly the better of the two teams' during Hullensians RUFC defeat
John Liley felt that his Harrogate Pythons RUFC side were “clearly the better of the two teams” during Saturday’s narrow Yorkshire One defeat at Hullensians RUFC.
The men from the Jim Saynor Ground came away from East Yorkshire with two bonus points, but not the victory their head coach felt they deserved after ending up on the wrong end of a 27-24 scoreline.
A poor start to proceedings was ultimately to prove costly, as despite having the better of the majority of the contest, the Pythons essentially gave their hosts a 12-point head start inside the opening five minutes.
But Liley did not think that was the only factor in the eventual outcome of the match.
“We experienced another frustrating afternoon on our travels on Saturday afternoon,” he said.
“Following our victory on the road last time out, our confidence and mood was high entering the game and, in my opinion, we were clearly the better of the two teams.
“Whilst we did make errors that Hullensians capitalised on, I felt that we produced the better rugby on the day.
“But, it was increasingly frustrating to fall on the wrong side of some borderline officiating decisions.
“Fortunately, we remained patient, and still managed to take two bonus points that enable us to continue on our quest to finish this season in a respectable eighth place in the league.”
Trailing 12-0 inside the first five minutes after Hullensians touched down almost straight from kick-off, then followed that score up with an interception try, the Pythons got themselves up and running just pas the midway point of the first half.
Number eight Hugh Tatlow was held just short of the try-line, but managed to offload to Pete Millward, who drove through a gap to finish. Ben Pryor’s conversion then made it 12-7.
By the 25th minute, the visitors were ahead. Harry Butler won a turnover from the restart, and having dragged his side up the pitch, provided the platform for Pryor to send a nicely-weighted grubber kick towards the corner for the pacy Harry Brayshaw to touch down.
With the scores levelled, Pryor was successful with his conversion attempt from the touch-line for a 14-12 advantage.
Hullensians quickly reclaimed the ascendancy with a penalty goal, but the Pythons kept on coming and fly-half Pryor bagged try number three when he finished off a series of attacking phases to make the score 19-15.
There was still time at the end of the opening period for the hosts to cross the whitewash from a quickly-taken penalty to edge themselves back ahead, and having begun the second half brightly, they added a converted try shortly after the resumption.
From that point onwards, the Pythons applied plenty of pressure as they sought a way back into the contest, but they only managed to add one further try to their tally.
Jordan Payne and Freddie Abrahams were both involved in the build-up as Sam Beagrie went over out wide to secure the four-try bonus point.
‘Gate remain ninth in the Yorkshire One standings ahead of their final two fixtures of the season – Keighley at home, and Leodiensian away.