Harrogate RUFC under no illusions regarding size of task facing them in National Two North, insists Martyn Wood

Harrogate RUFC suffered another heavy defeat on the road when they visited Fylde at the weekend. Picture: Daniel KerrHarrogate RUFC suffered another heavy defeat on the road when they visited Fylde at the weekend. Picture: Daniel Kerr
Harrogate RUFC suffered another heavy defeat on the road when they visited Fylde at the weekend. Picture: Daniel Kerr
Martyn Wood says that Harrogate RUFC are under no illusions as to the size of the task facing them in National Two North this season.

Promoted straight back into English rugby's fourth tier as North One East champions at the end of last term, the Aces kicked-off 2024/25 with five consecutive losses before recording their maiden win in last weekend's home clash with Chester.

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But, they were unable to back that result up on Saturday, suffering another heavy away loss when they went down 61-14 at Fylde.

And, although Harrogate's director of rugby says that he is confident that his team is improving, he says that they know they will have their work cut out trying to finish outside the division's bottom two.

"Fylde are a very good team and it's always a really hard game against them, particularly at their place," Wood told the Harrogate Advertiser.

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"I think that we are getting better and we will continue to improve, though we know that this is going to be a tough season. Every single game is difficult.

"I've been pleased with certain aspects of our play, we have picked up some useful bonus points and it was good to get that first win on the board, but there is still a very long way to go in terms of what we need to do.

"There's no exact science to it and you can't predict it precisely, but by my reckoning, we will need to win at least five games to be in with a chance of staying up - and keep picking up bonus points along the way.

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"The difference this season is that I think the lads feel that they deserve to be in this league. The last time we played in National Two, we were there after a season where we should have been relegated but didn't go down. Last year we regrouped, we earned promotion and now we are here on merit. So we just have to keep fighting."

Trailing 14-0, Harrogate got back into Saturday’s contest at Fylde when Jack Gilmartin marked his debut with a 25th-minute try that was converted by Tom Steene.

The Aces then drew level just before the half-hour mark after being awarded a penalty try when Kristan Dobson was tackled high in the process of going over the whitewash.

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That was however as good as it got for ‘Gate, with the home side adding two more tries before half-time, then scoring 33 unanswered points after the break.

Next up for Harrogate, who remain third-from-bottom of the pile after their defeat to Fylde, is a crunch clash with rock-bottom Sheffield Tigers at Rudding Lane this Saturday.

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