Harrogate Pythons RUFC surge up the Yorkshire One standings after fourth straight home win

The men from the Jim Saynor Ground followed up recent victories over Yarnbury, Goole and Beverley with a 36-17 success against Hullensians on Saturday afternoon.

Full of confidence following those recent triumphs, the Pythons seized an early lead and went on to take complete control of proceedings before their visitors reduced the deficit with a couple of late consolation tries.

And coach John Liley was absolutely thrilled to see his team sign off for 2025 with such an impressive bonus-point display.

“This was an accomplished, all-round performance by everyone, which saw us continue the excellent progress made over recent weeks,” he said.

“Our defence was awesome and set the platform for us to record a bonus-point victory.

“And this means that we finish 2025 on a massive high and have set ourselves up for an exciting second half of the season.

“We now sit nicely fourth in the table, and are ready to try to build on that in 2026, as well as having an exciting Yorkshire Shield semi-final to look forward to.”

Brimming with confidence, the Pythons were quickly on the offensive following clean line-out ball that was secured inside Hullensians’ half.

Sam Rowntree drove the ball close to the try-line, where Freddie Abrahams found Jack Whiting, who spotted Marcus Fotherby running a great line and popped him the ball to finish.

That third-minute score was added to a quarter of an hour later. With the home forwards in total control, George Booth was held up inches short, however Harry Butler was in support to drive over.

Ben Pryor kicked the resulting conversion to make it 12-0, but the only other points to materialise before the interval came at the other end when the visitors booted over a penalty goal.

The Pythons continued to boss the game after the interval and registered their third touchdown of the afternoon when Butler doubled his personal total.

Hugh Tatlow gathered an attacking line-out and powered towards the whitewash. He was eventually pulled down two metres short, though that man Butler was again on hand to finish the job.

Pryor added the extra two to make the score-line 19-3 and ‘Gate just kept on coming. Abrahams, Aaron Woods, Butler and Booth all gained ground, with Tatlow picking up and barging over to take the score-line to 24-3.

Soon afterwards, another effective line-out helped to keep the Pythons’ pack on the front foot, providing the platform for Butler to drive on and complete his hat-trick.

Some accurate passing and great support play then saw the hosts score their best try so far this season.

Tatlow, Jed Carr, Abahams, Butler, Whiting and Booth all combined to great effect to set up Sharp to go under the posts.

Pryor’s conversion pushed the scoreboard on to 36-3 with 10 minutes remaining, though there was still time for Hullensians to touch down twice during the closing stages.

Saturday's victory was the Pythons' fifth in 10 league outings this term and leaves them just a point shy of third-placed Keighley, who they visit in their first game of the New Year, on January 3.