Harrogate RUFC unfortunate to finish derby clash with Wharfedale RUFC empty-handed, says Martyn Wood

Harrogate RUFC director of rugby Martyn Wood. Picture: Submitted

The relegation-threatened Aces suffered a 21-11 defeat on the road having left themselves facing an uphill task following a poor start to proceedings.

With two players in the sin-bin, ‘Gate fell 13 points behind before the midway point of the first period and went into half-time 16-0 down.

Two Rory Macnab penalties and a Harrison Walker try would however bring them right back into the contest, with chances to add to their tally coming and going before ‘Dale went down the other end and took the game out of their visitors’ reach.

And while Wood conceded that the home side were probably good value for their victory on the balance of play, he thought his players deserved something for their efforts.

"It was quite windy, so we were always going to be under a bit of pressure playing into the wind in the first half, but I felt that we conceded too many penalties, which made things more difficult,” Harrogate’s director of rugby reflected.

“We went down to 13 men at one point for what was deemed a late tackle and I think that decision was very questionable. Wharfedale then went on and scored a try which I don’t think should have been given during that period of the game when they had that numerical advantage.

"So, I don’t believe we deserved to find ourselves 16 points behind at half-time, but the pleasing thing is that we did show some fight and we came right back into the game at 16-11.

"We had chances to go on and get ourselves in front at that stage, but we just weren’t clinical enough. We were getting into some good positions, we just lacked a little bit of composure.

“We did look good in patches and I feel that we deserved to take something away from the game, however on the balance of play, Wharfedale probably deserved to win. It could have gone either way but they were sharper than us in a lot of areas, particularly in the backs.”

Next up for ‘Gate, who remain second-from-bottom of the table, is a home clash with ninth-placed Sheffield Tigers this Saturday, 2pm kick-off at Rudding Lane.