Harrogate Pythons RUFC produce 'accomplished' display during home success over Yarnbury RFC

The men from the Jim Saynor Ground have struggled for consistency in Yorkshire One this term, but Saturday’s victory over in-form opposition was their third in a row on home soil.

And coach John Liley said that the quality of their display left him with plenty of reasons to feel “positive” about what is to come.

“We put in an accomplished performance to record another home victory,” he said. “In tricky conditions we made the right decisions and played the game in the correct areas of the field.

“In similar conditions to the previous week, we took on board the things that we needed to address, and on this occasion, we managed the game perfectly.

"We were able to impose ourselves for the full 80 minutes and we were also able to absorb the pressure of Yarnbury's attempt to get back into the game so that we could see it out.

"It may not have felt like it, but we won the game relatively comfortably in the end and are now beginning to string some consistent performances together.

"We are now showing our true potential, and with everyone putting the hard work in, the future is looking positive.”

Yarnbury took an early lead against the run of play on Saturday afternoon thanks to a slick move from their backs.

But, the Pythons were quickly back on the offensive and levelled matters at 7-7 when Will Milnes peeled off the side of a driving maul and powered over for Ben Pryor to convert.

The visitors reclaimed the ascendancy through a penalty goal midway through the opening period, though ‘Gate continued to string plenty of attacking phases together as they kept up the pressure.

This led to Yarnbury conceding a penalty 15 metres out, and Tatlow picked up from the base of his side’s dominant scrum and charged through to score. Pryor again added the extra two points for a 14-10 advantage on 32 minutes.

From another penalty, the home side again opted for a scrum and eventually crossed for a third time when the evergreen Russel Robertson burrowed over.

Pryor’s conversion took the score to 21-10, however there was still time for Yarnbury to kick another penalty before the half-time whistle sounded.

Shortly after the resumption, the away team gave away yet another penalty, and a scrum once again provided the Pythons with the perfect platform for Freddie Abraham to whip the ball out to Pryor, who darted over from 10 metres out before adding the extras himself for 28-13.

Yarnbury then roared back into the match and scored two tries to trim the deficit to 28-25.

But, it was ‘Gate who had the final say as they made the game safe when Max Sharp sent Pryor over in the corner.