Rugby - Harrogate find a bonus in the mud (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Rugby - Harrogate find a bonus in the mud

6:28pm Saturday 7th March 2009 in

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KENDAL lost 24-5 to Harrogate in an old fashioned bit of Mint Bridge mudlarking, which finished with both sets of players indistinquishable from each other.

Two missed penalties in the first ten minutes as stand-off Rob Aloe could not quite get the distance left the Black and Ambers without any reward for a lot of first-half possession.

It remained scoreless at half time, with Kendal hooker Allen Martindale yellow-carded for a late tackle just before the break.

Harrogate, with the wind behind them, were much more threatening in the second half and, as handling errors abounded, employed a kicking game to good effect.

Kendal were already 17-0 and out of contention after Harrogate scored three tries after the interval before good pressure finally created space for Zane acting full back Butler to go over in the corner from Kendal's only points.

The players were coated with mud and after consulting the match result sheet it was ascertained that Harrogate's tries came from full back Cerith Rees in the 53rd minute, followed by replacement James Henry six minutes later, with prop Dan Metcalfe adding a third in the 71st minute. Replacement forward James Browne scored the fourth bonus-point try in the 79th minute. Scrum-half Mike Aspinwall kicked two conversions.