Wasteful Harrogate Pythons RUFC punished by West Leeds RUFC for error-strewn display

The Starbeck-based side were guilty of a poor start, making too many unforced errors and failing to take their chances on their way to a heavy 46-15 defeat.

That loss was the club’s third in four Yorkshire One outings this term, and coach Liley was left extremely frustrated at the full-time whistle.

“We were once again guilty of not capitalising on the chances we created,” he said. “Several scoring opportunities fell by the wayside.

“At the other end of the field, every mistake we made was punished by West Leeds.

“We also made life harder for ourselves by gifting the opposition 14 soft, early points that gave them confidence and left us in a battle to make up the points. “The plus side is that we are creating scoring chances. We now just have to be more ruthless when these appear.”

Within five minutes of kick-off, the Pythons found themselves 14-0 down as West Leeds ran in a couple of converted tries.

The visitors responded after a quarter of an hour, Hugh Tatlow catching line-out ball and driving over the whitewash.

With ‘Gate firmly on top by this stage, a Jed Carr penalty narrowed the gap further at 14-8.

But, after the influential Sam Rowntree was forced to leave the field through injury, the tide began to turn and Leeds went under the posts to make it 21-8.

From a turnover, the hosts then shifted the ball wide and crossed in the corner to extend their advantage further.

Liley’s men did however win the restart and, having made some ground, Freddie Abrahams controlled the phases close to the try-line before Jordan Payne eventually spotted a gap to go through, with Mikey Adams adding the conversion for 26-15 at half-time.

The second period began with two more Leeds touchdowns, which arrived in quick succession to leave the hosts in full control.

And, as the Pythons wasted their own opportunities to put points on the board, their opponents added a penalty and another try to round things off.

Next up for Liley and his troops is a home showdown with Beverley this Saturday afternoon.