Harrogate 17 Nuneaton 17: Harrogate victory bid falls just short

The damp, greasy conditions dictated the tactics and Harrogate’s effective use of the driving maul almost carried the day for them.

After five minutes, a well-controlled drive took the home side some 35 metres into the Nuneaton 22.

Quickly released ball was then spun left and Noel Minikin cut through for a well-taken try.

Nuneaton went on the attack from the restart but Harrogate turned their ball over and Callum Irvine carried the move on but the supporting player knocked on.

This pattern repeated itself throughout the game although the greasy conditions did make handling difficult.

A home offside offence at a scrum led to a quickly-taken Nuneaton penalty and centre Will Cave outpaced the defence for a try between the posts, converted by Lee Chapman.

The Nuns then took the lead through Chapman’s penalty after a Harrogate offside offence.

More well-controlled driving mauls sucked in the visiting defence and, just before the break, Peacey powered through a gap for a converted try to give Harrogate a 14-10 half-time lead.

Harrogate attacked from the start of the second period but lost possession and Nuneaton counter-attacked.

An attacking lineout produced quick ball for them and winger Elliot Brown scored a fine converted try.

Harrogate replacement No 8 Harry Hannan then burst through Nuneaton’s midfield and the visitors went offside from the subsequent ruck.

Scrum-half Joe Rowntree’s penalty made it 17-17 and, in the last move of the match, Nuneaton again went offside on the halfway line.

A successful kick would have won the game for Harrogate but it was just out of Rowntree’s range.

The result leaves Harrogate next to bottom of the table with 12 points from seven matches.

They are eight points clear of bottom club Hull Ionians but only one adrift of Kendal and Sheffield Tigers and two behind Hull in this fiercely contested division.

Harrogate travel to mid-table Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday.