Brady celebrates milestone as Harrogate take derby honours

Solid ball retention, good handling and astute kicking from hand proved key for the visitors for whom captain Jacob Brady made his 150th appearance and proved a power in the loose.

Otley soon struck, winning a lineout for centre Michael Coady to breach the defence, scrum-half Stephen Depledge converting before adding a penalty.

It was 20 minutes into the game before Harrogate struck, fly-half Callum Irvine fastening onto a loose ball and racing to the posts for full-back Joe Rowntree to convert before making it 10-10 with a penalty.

On 61 minutes, Rowntree put Harrogate ahead with a penalty and he was on the mark to convert a try from Brady 10 minutes later.

Otley pressed but ran a penalty instead of going for goal which could have gained them a point.

A five-try second half romp helped Huddersfield to a 37-3 home win over Leicester Lions.

In a tense first half, against a side three places above them, Huddersfield took a 5-0 lead with a try from full-back Elliot Hodgson before the visitors hit back with a penalty. Fly-half Chris Bell’s penalty made it 8-3 at the interval before the blue touch paper was lit.

Leicester were forced on to the back foot when outside centre Alex Batty went over and Bell converted.

Eight minutes later, right winger Tom Hodson scored out wide and that was followed by two further unconverted tries from second-row Austin Thompson and No 8 Nick Sharp, making the lead 27 points.

In the closing minutes, there was time for a neatly book-ended performance when Hodgson crossed again for his brace and Bell finished things off with the conversion.

Two wins from the last three games have given Hull a fighting chance of beating relegation and their latest came in a 27-0 demolition of Luctonians.

The visitors are now just a point ahead of their victors.

New Hull coach Gary Pearce has played a big part in turning around his side’s fortunes and his charges were in great form, taking the lead after just three minutes with Greg Lound scoring and converting a try.

It was plain sailing for the home side from then on with Aiden Holland bagging a brace and Romanian international Steve Hihetah also touching down

Hull Ionians’ match at Stockport was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

As a result, they drop to second, with rivals Ampthill winning against Preston Grasshoppers.