Harrogate Pythons RUFC show their 'character' during home success over Beverley RUFC

The men from the Jim Saynor Ground led for the majority of Saturday’s clash with struggling Beverley, only to then fall behind with just five minutes remaining.

However, the home players did not let their heads drop following that late setback, and they scored two converted tries at the death to take a 29-17 win.

“We got our league campaign back on track by showing great character to record a bonus-point victory against Beverley,” Liley said.

“With honours even for much of the first half, we eventually put points on the scoreboard, but throughout the game Beverley continued to claw themselves back into the contest.

“With them eventually taking the lead with only five minutes remaining, we showed great patience and great determination to cross the whitewash twice late on.

"We corrected our mistakes from previous weeks to put in a fantastic performance. It was a whole-team effort that earned us a result that we deserved, and we now need to build on this moving forward.”

The game started with the Pythons dominating the play, though it took them almost half an hour to put points on the board.

The opening score arrived after Jed Carr kicked a penalty deep into the Beverley 22. Will Milnes won clean ball at the line-out and Pete Millward carried the attack on into the next phase.

Freddie Abrahams then whipped the ball out to Rhys Cory, who in turn found Max Sharp, who sent Tom Roberts over in the corner for a 5-0 lead.

Ben Pryor was inches short with a penalty attempt just before half-time, though he did land one just after the restart to make it 8-0.

Beverley responded quickly with a converted try, which narrowed the gap to a single point, though the Pythons were soon back on the offensive.

After Milnes, George Booth and Hugh Tatlow had made some ground, Millward shrugged off a number of attempted tacklers as he made it to within three metres of the try line.

But, Harry Butler was on hand to apply a finishing touch, with Pryor adding the extras for 15-7.

Again, Beverley hit back with a converted try to once again make it a one-point game.

And the visitors then booted over a penalty to edge ahead at 17-15 with 75 minutes on the clock.

The Pythons did not panic, however, and having got themselves to within 10 metres of the away line, they were awarded a penalty, which Andy MacKay took quickly and made it to the base of the posts, where Butler again arrived to score his second touchdown.

Pryor landed the conversion to make the score 22-17, but ‘Gate were not finished there.

Tatlow picked and went from the base of an attacking scrum, and although he was held just short, that man Butler was in the right place and the right time to complete his hat-trick and secure his team a four-try bonus point before the boot of Pryor wrapped things up.

The Pythons are without a fixture this Saturday, but return to action on November 1 when they travel to Old Rishworthian in the quarter-finals of the Yorkshire Shield.