Harrogate RUFC still taking steps in the right direction, insists Jake Brady after Hull Ionians RUFC defeat
Harrogate RUFC may well have lost their last two National Two North matches, but Jake Brady believes that his side are still taking steps in the right direction.
Promoted from North One East at the end of last season following an impressive play-off hat-trick, the Aces made a flying start to their 2026/27 campaign.
But, those back-to-back victories over local rivals Otley and then Billingham were followed up by a 52-33 loss at Preston Grasshoppers and a 47-21 defeat on home soil against Hull Ionians on Saturday afternoon.
‘Gate’s director of rugby knows that there was plenty that his players could have done better in both of those games, but insists that they are still improving week on week.
"If you’re just looking at results, I think that can be a bit of a red herring,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser. “Obviously I was pleased to get bonus-point wins in the first two games after coming up a division.
"But, my job is to consider the bigger picture and to make sure that we are improving and that we continue to develop.
"The important thing for me is that I believe we are improving week on week. We got a lot of the fundamentals wrong at Preston, but we worked on those things in training and there was evidence we had rectified most of those issues on Saturday.
"Against Hull Ionians, our line-out was poor and we didn’t exit our own territory very effectively. But overall, I think the lads looked better again in most areas. And that continual progress is what I am always looking for.”
Harrogate actually made a bright start to proceedings and took a seventh-minute lead through an Amrit Sharma try that was converted by Jack Mallinson.
Ionians then ran in three unanswered scores in quick succession to take control of proceedings, before the Aces’ other winger, James Magee, crossed to make it 21-12 after half an hour.
Mallinson’s conversion narrowed the gap further, however the visitors touched down again just before the interval to restore that 14-point cushion.
The first try of the second period was always going to prove crucial, and it went the way of Ionians, who moved into a 33-14 lead on 48 minutes.
Another try and conversion followed to end the game as a contest, and although centre Kodie Brook went over and Mallinson added the extras once again in the 75th minute, that was as good as it was to get for ‘Gate.
The East Yorkshiremen had the final say, adding their seventh touchdown of the afternoon in the very last minute to wrap things up at 47-21.
Brady, however, feels that he knows where his charges went wrong on the day.
"Ultimately, because we didn’t get the line-out and one or two other things right, we created more work for ourselves than we should have had to get through,” he added.
"And that took its toll in the end. We had probably emptied the tank too early in the game, and so by the latter stages we were struggling
“There are some teams you can maybe get away with not being at your best against, but Ionians are a good side and we got punished on this occasion.
“Our attack did look good though and the backs scored a couple of nice tires. We went through some decent phases, but the issue was that we didn’t get enough opportunities to do that.
"If you aren’t winning your own line-out ball then you are missing out on so many opportunities to get on the attack, and that costs you.”
This Saturday, sixth-placed Harrogate travel to bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Tigers, who are winless in their first four outings.