'Not a bad season overall' as Harrogate Pythons RUFC survive comfortably in Yorkshire One

The Starbeck outfit were beaten 46-31 by Leodiensian on the final day, with that result meaning that they finished eighth in Yorkshire One and 14 points clear of the relegation zone.

The Pythons reached English rugby’s seventh tier for the first time in their history last term, but endured a tough time and were only spared the drop because of restructuring of the leagues.

Under the guidance of Mackay, they started this season with a bang, winning all of their first four fixtures before things began to tail off as injury and unavailability took its toll.

Just four more wins materialised in the 18 matches that followed, but in the end, the men from the Jim Saynor Ground were never in any danger of being sucked into the battle for survival at the wrong end of the division.

And Mackay was therefore able to reflect on what has unfolded over the course of the last eight months with a sense of satisfaction.

“I am hugely proud of the players efforts’ throughout the season,” he said.

“We have retained our place in Yorkshire One for next season, finished higher in the table and won more games than we managed previously.

"So, that’s not a bad season overall.”

Saturday’s home showdown with Leodiensian did not begin particularly well for the Pythons, with their visitors grabbing two early tries against the run of play.

But, ‘Gate got back in the game when from a scrum on the away 22, Natsuki Barclay and Max Sharp combined to find Hugh Tatlow, who then sent Harry Brayshaw away down the touchline to make it 12-5.

Then from a ruck deep in Leos territory set up by clean line-out ball, Barclay found George Booth, who crashed over to score, with Ben Pryor converting to level matters.

The visitors reclaimed the lead with a penalty, but the Pythons kept coming and edged ahead for the first time when Jack Whiting offloaded to Tatlow, who finished under the posts.

The half would however end just as it had started, with Leodiensian scoring a brace of tries to take a 27-19 advantage into the interval.

Introduced following an injury to Whiting, replacement Sam Rose made his 1st XV debut at the start of the second period and was quickly into the action, linking well with Brayshaw immediately before Harry Butler forced play into the away 22 where the Pythons earned themselves a penalty.

This was kicked into touch, allowing Marcus Fotherby to secure line-out ball. With the heavier home pack marching ever closer, Leos conceded two penalties and had a man yellow-carded.

Barclay took a quick tap and fed Butler, a ruck formed and from the base of it, Jordan Payne drove over the try-line. Pryor’s conversion brought his team to within a point at 27-26.

That was however as good as it would get for ‘Gate in the second half as Leos went on to take full control of proceedings, opening up a 46-26 lead.

The Pythons did at least have the final say. With five minutes remaining, a sustained spell of pressure saw them camped on the visitors’ five-meter line, and some quick thinking from Barclay and Rose eventually saw Brayshaw cross in the corner for his second touchdown of the day.

Reflecting on Saturday’s display, Mackay added: “Unfortunately, we just didn’t fire today.

"Too many missed tackles and an inability to keep the ball in hand made for a very disjointed game.

"But, when we did manage to go through the phases we scored some good tries and demonstrated the level that we can play at.”