Harrogate RUFC's defeat at Heath RUFC down to five-minute blip at start of second half, says Martyn Wood

The Aces suffered just their second defeat in 11 North One East outings this term on Saturday, losing ground on leaders York in the process.

The Rudding Lane outfit took a 6-3 lead into the interval having controlled the vast majority of the first half, but shipped two tries in quick succession at the start of the second period and were unable to recover.

"I'm a bit disappointed," 'Gate director of rugby Wood reflected. "The conditions were dreadful but we controlled the first half pretty well and I was happy with how we were playing.

"Then we just had a five-minute spell after half-time where we stopped tackling properly and all of the good work from the first half was undone. Credit to Heath, they scored one good try and one opportunist try and it was always going to be difficult for us to get back into it from there.

"We are a reasonably fit team, and we thought that might tell in the latter stages, but the conditions made it tough. It becme so muddy towards the end of the game that we just struggled to play.

"We had a go and could possibly have sneaked over late on and nicked it, though I'm not sure if that would have been deserved. You have to give credit to the opposition, they performed particularly well up front in what was a good Yorkshire derby."

Defeat for 'Gate leaves them seven points behind top-of-the-table York, albeit having played a game less than their title rivals.

But Wood insists that it is far too early in the season to be paying too much attention to league position.

"We just have to keep going," he added. "I don't believe that there is any point looking at league tables and how many points we have at the moment, we simply have to focus on ourselves, on how we perform and on the next game.

"Obviously we will be wanting to see a reaction when we play Ilkley at the weekend, but that is going to be another tough test.

"They are a good team, particularly in the backs, so we know that we will have to perform if we want to come away with the win."