Harrogate RUFC forced to 'dig deep' to withstand late Alnwick RFC onslaught
Jake Brady said he was thrilled to see how "deep" his Harrogate RUFC players were prepared to "dig" for one another during the latter stages of Saturday's narrow home win over Alnwick.
Leading 21-3 early in the second half, the Aces appeared to be on course for a comfortable North One East victory at Rudding Lane.
But, the visitors stormed back into the contest and narrowed the gap to just one point before laying siege to the home line during the dying minutes.
Harrogate did manage to hold out for their fourth victory in five matches so far this season, though their director of rugby admitted that his overriding emotion at the final whistle was one of "relief".
He was, however, still able to take positives from the way that his team managed to see the game out.
"Credit to Alnwick for how they changed their game-plan and really opened things up in the second half," Brady told the Harrogate Advertiser.
"We were in control for a lot of the first 40, but found ourselves really under the pump for long spells after half-time.
"They were camped on our line for those last five minutes and it took a big effort from the boys during those defensive sets.
"Obviously, you don't want every game to play out like that but Saturday ended up being a good test of our mettle. We really had to show a lot of character, and we came through.
"What we did at the end of the game proved how deep the boys are prepared to dig in for each other, which was definitely good to see."
There were no points scored during the opening half an hour of the match, though Harrogate eventually broke through when skipper Sam Brady powered over from close range to take his personal tally for the season to six tries in five appearances.
Callum Burn responded with a penalty for Alnwick, though 'Gate took a 14-3 advantage into the interval after centre Kodie Brook crossed and Rory Macnab kicked his second conversion of the afternoon.
An interception try from wing Amrit Sharma extended the home lead just two minutes after the resumption, with Macnab once again adding the extras.
A Kalvin Inglis score, converted by Burn, made it 21-10 on 52 minutes, and the visitors kept on coming.
Burn landed another penalty goal just past the hour, then Michael Van Vuuren went over and Burn converted to reduce the gap to 21-10 with eight minutes remaining.
Alnwick applied plenty of late pressure as they sought to extend their 100 percent start to the season, however Brady and his troops showed great resolve to keep them at bay and finish the contest with their slender advantage intact.
Saturday's result leaves Harrogate fourth in the table and four points behind leaders Heath.
They return to action this weekend when they entertain Driffield in a 3pm kick-off.