Harrogate RUFC rally after the interval following disastrous first half at Preston Grasshoppers RFC
Jake Brady was able to take some positives from Harrogate RUFC’s second-half display as they fell to their first defeat of the season.
Having recorded bonus-point victories over Otley and Billingham in their opening two National Two North fixtures, the Aces lost out 52-33 to Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday afternoon.
A disastrous first 40 proved the men from Rudding Lane’s undoing, as they shipped six tries and headed into the interval trailing 45-5.
But, ‘Gate got their act together following the resumption and crossed the try-line on four occasions to narrow the gap and earn themselves another bonus point.
And the Aces’ director was pleased to see his side at least go down fighting.
"The first half was littered with some of the same errors we produced in the first two fixtures, only Preston were clinical in punishing us for them and putting points on the board,” Brady said.
“After conceding six tries in the first period, the second-half task was to produce a much better performance.
“Although Preston had likely already won, they still defended passionately. However, we held onto the ball much better and applied pressure.
"This resulted in three yellow cards and four tries. That was not enough to get us back in a position to win the game, but enough to take a losing bonus point.
“We have another great challenge next week against Hull Ionians, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the players react.”
Trailing 17-0 by the 12th-minute, Harrogate got up and running against Preston when winger Amrit Sharma went over on 16 minutes.
But that was to be as good as it got for the visitors as the Grasshoppers went on to dominate the rest of the opening period.
The second period was however a different story, and ‘Gate were rewarded for a better showing with tries from Greg Minikin, Tom Steene, Matt Leatham and Sam Gott.
Three conversions from the boot of Jack Mallinson and one by Tom Steene kept the scoreboard ticking over, with Preston only managing to add one converted try to their tally.
This Saturday, Harrogate entertain a Hull Ionians side who have kicked off 2026/27 with three consecutive wins. That game is scheduled to get underway at Rudding Lane at 2pm.