Park are almost there

RFU National League Two

DESPITE dropping the ball from the kick-off, Sedgley made a dream start to their promotion game at Harrogate.

Richard Oxley took the resulting scrum against the head and powerful, accurate play gained 50 metres to the home 22, from which position Ryno Ueckermann kicked the opening penalty goal.

Harrogate tried to repeat the fancy kick-off that had worked first time, but this time Ian Voortman was waiting for it and he ran 60 metres, untouched, to score in the corner; 8-0 after just seven minutes.

This was a return to the confident pre-Christmas Sedgley side, confirming the improvement shown against Nuneaton the previous game.

There was a sharpness about everything they did, the point of attack was constantly switched, everyone seemed to know his job, and every player was doing his job.

It came as no surprise when scrum-half Dave McCormack darted through a gap at the base of a ruck to score from 40 metres out, showing a clean pair of heels to a flat defence.

Harrogate had done little except defend, but now they exerted pressure for the first time and, suddenly, the heavens opened in a sustained and torrential downpour.

Harrogate continued to press and scored a try from a driven maul, prop Rob Wilson the scorer; Lee Cholewa converted to make it 13-7 after 26 minutes.

Sedgley just failed to score a truly outstanding try, following a gallop through the middle by Paul Arnold, with Kern Yates in support.

Ueckermann's perfectly weighted diagonal kick bounced too awkwardly for wing Chris Glynn to control, but more good play led to a penalty which Ueckermann landed confidently, despite the gusting cross-wind.

Harrogate might have scored just before the interval but good defensive play by the Sedgley pack kept them out, and 16-7 looked a winning lead with some assistance from the wind to come.

The rain had stopped, too, and the second half began with a spectacular passage of play that saw Harrogate attacking strongly towards Sedgley's right corner.

Possession was lost, Sedgley ran the ball along their own goal-line to Chris Glynn who raced to halfway and kicked ahead to earn a penalty which Ueckermann slotted.

Thereafter, Harrogate had the better of the second half, in terms of territory, though Sedgley scored a converted try in a rare visit to their opponents' half, Arno De Jager crossing wide out on the left.

Harrogate generally relied on the rolling maul, at which they were expert, until the closing minutes when they gave the ball some width and immediately looked dangerous.

A break by centre Matt Duncombe went unrewarded because of a poor final pass, and another crisp handling move had Ross Bullough touching down to concede a 5-metre scrum.

Finally, into injury time, Harrogate scored the try that had looked on the cards for some time, number 8 Oliver Cooke the scorer, but Sedgley's lead was never remotely in danger.

So Sedgley now face old rivals Doncaster, at Park Lane on Saturday, requiring just a single point for promotion.

Failing that, they would get another chance away at Rugby Lions on the final Saturday of the league season.