Harrogate Pythons 1st XV switched venues on Saturday due to a water logged pitch at Station View. Pocklington were ahead on the scoreboard following some evenly matched exchanges scoring 4 converted tries with The Pythons responding with 2 penalties from Will Clough 26-6. Pressure from The Pock pack took away some of The Pythons advantage but their strong runners lead by Ed Callis and George Booth kept Pock deep in their half. Marcus Fotherby dominated the front of the line out and a well worked move saw Booth break into the Pock 22 and Clough feeding debutant Chris Keegan to dive under the posts, Clough with the extras 26-13, half time.
Pace out wide leads to another home try, 33-13 but The Pythons pressure in attack leads to another penalty for Clough 33-16. Some less than enthusiastic tackling allows the Pock number 8 to break through from half way, 40-16. Hugh Tatlow crosses the line following some focused phases in the Pock 22 and Clough adds the extras 40-23.
Gaining some momentum as the forward pressure evens up The Pythons set piece gives a better platform to mount attacks. Rhys Cory is bundled into touch twice inches short of the line. Width gives Pock their last try 47-23 but The Pythons finish the game with some intense pressure in the last 10mins causing the ref to issue 3 yellow cards for persistent defensive penalties.
At the end of the game Coach Dan Bird said, “Pocklington have always been a strong side with some recent experience in higher leagues. Their pack had the advantage early on but the lads held fast and were able to turn that round in the second half”.
