Huddersfield throw it away as Harrogate produce try blitz

Luctonians 21

Huddersfield were leading by eight points with only seven minutes to go but conceded a try and last-ditch penalty and had to settle for the draw.

Chris Johnson ran almost the length of the pitch to score Huddersfield's stunning opener to which he added the conversion and a penalty to put them into a 10-6 lead at the break.

The visitors continued to have the better of things in the second half but could not quite shake off the home side.

However two more penalties by Johnson and a try from flanker Gareth Lewis, who touched down after a rolling maul over the line, seemed to have the game won.

But they failed to stop Luctonians grabbing their late, life-saving try and then conceded the all-important penalty that threw away three valuable points.

Harrogate 99

Rugby Lions 7

Harrogate comprehensively outplayed a young Rugby side, who tried to compete throughout the game.

The dynamic Tim Heaton, switched to No 8, scored the opening try and this was shortly followed by another from back-row colleague Alex Rieder. Andy Rock, in his first game for over a year, then sent in Jamie Broadley, whose second try earned Harrogate a bonus point after 16 minutes.

Rob Almond got the next try before Rugby's Gareth Clarke set up former Harrogate winger Ian Renard for a try which Alex Stajka converted.

Tries from Broadley, Ed Smithies and Jake Brady made it 52-7 at the interval.

The rout continued with replacement centre Sam Bottomley crossing for Almond to land the first of seven successful conversions.

Replacement flanker Chris Wilson, scored the next try before Almond and Brady followed him over.

Smithies and Kyle Dench scored from a counter-attacks and, in the last move of the match, another break from defence led to Bottomley scoring in the corner. Almond's narrow missed conversion attempt spoiled his 100 per cent kicking record and prevented Harrogate from hitting 100 points.

Morley 18

Preston Grasshoppers 39

Morley fell victim to a slick Preston side who took their chances clinically and the only consolation for the hosts was that all the teams below them also lost, leaving them well clear of the bottom two.

A penalty from Simon Bradshaw and drop goal by stand-off Tom Burnell gave Morley an early lead but Grasshoppers soon got into gear and a penalty and two tries in a seven-minute spell saw them turn round 15-6 in front.

The game was all over within 12 minutes of the restart with Preston right winger Matt Hughes grabbing two converted tries and even though winger Bradshaw twice went over for Morley, adding one conversion, the gap was too great.

Preston had the last word, dominating play and picking up another penalty and converted try.

Kendal 19

Hull Ionians 20

Hull Ionians' young team captained by 20-year-old Joe Makin stepped up to the mark to gain a magnificent victory.

Kendal enjoyed 80 per cent of possession but made very little progress against a tenacious defence while Ionians took their chances to score three good tries.

Kendal played into the wind for the first half and kept the ball tight while Ionians played with better running skills and kicked well to gain their points.

Dan Porter opened with a penalty but Kendal camped on the line and drove over No 8 Joe Mallinson. From the restart, Ionians held Kendal in their 22 and then stole the ball for Joe Sanders to break and stretch back over his head to score, Porter converting.

Mark Ireland regained the lead with two penalties then, after the break against 14 men, full-back Simon Mulholand ran through and Ireland added a penalty.

Back to full strength and with Kendal having a yellow card, the Ionians pack applied pressure and Adam Thomas darted off a drive to score.

Then, when Kendal hooked too hard at a five-metre scrum, Thomas stole the ball to score again to take the lead.

Back to full strength, Kendal camped in the five-metre zone but could not break through, finally conceding a penalty for Ionians to clear their line and secure the points.

Hull 17

Westoe 23

Hull could not find their way through Westoe's organised defence in a tense encounter.

Westoe forced Hull into three early penalties but Mark Bedworth could only kick one.

The visitors began to control play and broke the line after 20 minutes as winger Gareth Kerr collected a deft offload and beat the last man before Bedworth missed the conversion.

Ten minutes later, Ollie Hardisty's curved kick found Alex Piercy, whose first-time kick enabled him to dive onto the loose ball for a try.

Greg Lound's conversion cut the deficit to one point but Westoe extended their lead from the kick-off. Bedworth kicked the ball straight out after the conversion and when Westoe stole the lineout and gave the ball back to him, he made no mistake with a drop-goal.

Westoe winger Tom Banks made use of a quick counter-attack just before the interval. He completed a 30-metre run by cutting inside the last man and sauntering over before Bedworth converted.

Greg Lounds's mid-range penalty following an illegal challenge on a good run from Hardisty ended the half.

Hull made a spirited start to the second period and a pinpoint kick from centre Maea David found full-back James Kirk on the right flank and he outpaced the last man allowing Lound to convert.

Hull's good work was quickly undone when Danny Smith surrendered possession and James Clark rran in for an unconverted try.

Hull continued to exert pressure, resulting in a sin-binning for Westoe's Iain Johnson on the hour, but the league's best defence stood firm.