FT: Harrogate 22 Kendal 14 (From The Westmorland Gazette)

FT: Harrogate 22 Kendal 14

10:12am Monday 5th December 2011 in Sport By Frank Jameson

Harrogate 22 Kendal 13 (HT:17-0)
A fierce easterly was blowing at Claro Road on Saturday, and Harrogate had the advantage of the elements in the first half.

They made good use of it and stacked up a seventeen point lead, with three useful tries to zilch by the visiting Cumbrians.

It was not a promising start for the Black and Ambers as they battled to maintain territory against the wind.

After only five minutes’ play, brisk passing by the home side to their right wing saw Arnie Ellison dash over in the corner to gain the first touchdown.

Mark Ireland missed a long range penalty soon after, but it did not seem to matter at the time as the Kendal pack started to drive forward with purpose, smuggling the ball from man to man as they drove forward in wedge formation.

They gained thirty metres down the middle, eventually slipping the ball to Simon Davidson who continued the attack, but eventually, Harrogate managed to scramble the ball away.

Soon after, Steve Green was seen attending to fly half, Mark Ireland, on the touchline with an injured hand. It transpired that Mark had a suspected broken finger, and took no further part in the game, being replaced by Ginner Boardley at full back, Chris Park moving up to fly half.

Immediately afterwards, Harrogate launched another flowing move down their left wing, eventually blown up for a forward pass.

Undaunted, Harrogate camped on the Kendal line, and a good pick up by the strong running No.8 Ryan Peacey, saw him make ground before putting over his second row, Tom Harvey, for a neat try. The try was converted by Callum Irvine.

Immediately afterwards, Harrogate returned to the attack, attacking left and right, stretching the Cumbrian defence.

In spite of a fine tackle by Leo Mercer, they were unstoppable, and Peacey scored Harrogate's third try, supporting his backs on the inside to charge over.

With Joe Mallinson already yellow carded, and Mark Bowman following him a few minutes later, it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for Kendal.

Joe returned just before the break, and the Cumbrians counter attacked down the left, with Kris Bratton given a rare chance to show his speed, but he was driven out of play by the covering home side.

The half time whistle could not come soon enough for the supporting Cumbrian fans, as they faced another tough forty minutes to come.

But the second half saw a different Kendal re-emerge. Now with the wind at their backs, they gradually gained control of the game, using the wind to good effect.

Danny Redhead took a short line out on the left, and the pack made a long drive down the touchline, patiently waiting for the gap, with Richard Harryman organising his lads, inch by inch towards the tryline, and Garry Holmes eventually crashing over, Ginner Boardley adding the conversion.

Kendal were in command at this stage of the game, though a high box kick was well taken by Ed Smithies at full back, and he counter attacked down the right for thirty metres or more before being downed.

Back came Kendal, with Garry Holmes being replaced by fresh legs in Ben Craghill. The game was developing into a fascinating struggle between the Cumbrian pack and the Harrogate backs.

For fifteen minutes, Kendal drove forward well and pressurised the Harrogate defence to give away two long distance penalties, which Ginna Boardley kicked with confidence, and narrowed Harrogate’s lead to only four points.

At this point, the game could have gone either way. Chris Park, from his own half, using the wind, kicked a long ball towards the home line, but unfortunately the ball was blown slowly but tantalisingly over the dead ball line, and the players had to return to their own 22 metre line for a defensive scrum.

Harrogate won the ball, and moved it to their right wing once more, with Ryan Peacey making the decisive break, to put over Arnie Ellison in the corner.

With only twelve minutes left, this was the decisive moment of the game, extending Harrogate’s lead to 22-13.

The Black & Ambers could still have narrowed the Yorkshire lads’ lead , but a long distance penalty attempt from Ginner Boardley in the last minute was not to be, and Harrogate deserved their win.

They had moved the ball around better than the Cumbrians, with Peacey being the outstanding player of the day. On the Kendal side, Joe Mallinson was terrific in his work rate both in attack and defence, closely supported by Gareth Gore and Richard Harryman in the many forward exchanges.

In the backs, Simon Davidson followed his forwards well, and sweeping up as usual, but a vital win was not to be, as Kendal dropped to the bottom of the league table, equal with Ionians, who won their Humberside derby on Saturday.