Bounce Back Stalled by Battling Bramley . . .
Match Report By Neil Summersall
Harrogate Pythons travelled to Bramley Phoenix looking to bounce back from last weekend’s disappointing result. The early signs were good with the Pythons seamlessly going through the phases and Jed Carr putting in some excellent long touch finds. A home scrum was put under pressure and Sam Beagrie charged down the attempted clearance kick to regather and score the first try. Carr added the conversion. 0-7 6 mins. The Pythons continued to press, and James Audsley-Beck was denied a score in the corner by a covering high tackle. Bramley then broke out from deep in defence only to be stopped by a strong Harry Parrish tackle. Bramley again made progress from deep and the Pythons defence regained the ball. Jack Hall’s pass was unfortunately intercepted by Bramley’s centre who raced away to score by the posts. 7-7 21 mins. More trouble followed for the Pythons as Beagrie was shown a yellow card, but Bramley missed touch with the penalty and Bailey Bromberg made an electrifying break down the touchline. The ball was quickly recycled and put through the hands to Hugh Tatlow who scored in the opposite corner. 7-12 25 mins. A lovely take from Hall from the restart led to some heavy Pythons pressure on the Bramley line. Audsley-Beck was denied another try by a forward pass, but the pressure was rewarded when the Pythons scrum marched Bramley backwards and Tatlow found Liam Kernoghan from the base to step through the defence and score. Half time Bramley 7 Pythons17.
The Pythons started the 2nd period brightly, and a sniping run from Kernoghan led to an attacking scrum. The ball was shipped wide for Bromberg to cross out wide in the corner. 7-22 44 mins. Bramley came straight back and were awarded a penalty for a Pythons offside. The quick thinking scrum half ran across the pitch to the mark, took a quick tap and put the winger in at the corner. The touchline conversion was good. 14-22 49 mins. An Audsley-Beck kick led to a defensive Bramley line out which was disrupted and Will Butler powered over only to be called back for a knock forward. The Pythons pressurised the resulting scrum and Tatlow went over but was held up. Beagrie returned the kick out with a determined burst through and found the supporting Max Sharp who crashed over in the corner. 14-27 58 mins. Bramley forced an attacking 5m line out. The ball came back scrappily on the Bramley side then appeared to be thrown forward over the Pythons line by the Bramley scrum half. A Bramley forward dropped on the ball and the try was awarded. The conversion was again successful. 21-27 66 mins. A Pythons clearance kick was collected by the Bramley winger who ran across the field and linked well with his centre who found another supporting forward and put him under the posts for a converted try. 28-27 76 mins. Bramley were penalised at the restart, but the Pythons missed touch allowing Bramley to clear their lines, There was just time for Bromberg to break out from deep but he was stopped by a strong tackle from the covering full back to leave the final score Bramley 28 Pythons 27.
This was a very disappointing defeat for the Pythons, however they picked up 2 bonus points and with 3rd placed Baildon losing at Wath, the Pythons move another point closer to promotion.